State High boys improve to 13-1 with win over Altoona

The State College Little Lions defeated Mid Penn rival Altoona on Jan. 13 and improved their record to 13-1, while St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-Osceola all picked up wins in the last week.

With most local teams nearing the final two weeks of their regular seasons, the games are becoming more and more important as the District 6 playoffs positions are becoming clearer.

Here’s a brief look at our local high school boys basketball:

STATE COLLEGE

The Little Lions started slowly against the 4-9 Altoona Mountain Lions on Jan 13. SC was down by 2 points after the first quarter, but Braeden Shrewsberry and his teammates hadn’t warmed up yet.

That happened starting in the second quarter. SC forged ahead there and then went on an 18-6 run in the third quarter to all but sew up a 68-43 win.

The Lions knocked down 15 3-pointers in the game — six by Shrewsberry, six by Isaac Dye, two by Ryan Perks and another by Lake Black — as they shot their way to their 13th win of the season against just one loss.

Shrewsberry led the scoring for SC with 24 points, while Dye scored 21 and Perks had 8.

It was also the Little Lions’ seventh win in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Conference without a loss, and they are tied for the top conference spot with 7-0 Cumberland Valley.

Shrewsberry, a senior who will be playing at Penn State next season, improved his average to 16 points per game, and he is also pulling down five rebounds per game and handing out 4 assists. Dye is averaging 12.2 per game, and Perks is at 11.3.

Next up for the Lions will be games at Central Dauphin and at home against Harrisburg. 

The big showdown against Cumberland Valley will happen on Jan. 24 in Mechanicsburg. The two teams will then meet again in the regular season finale in State College on Feb. 7.

ST. JOSEPH’S

At St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, the WolfPack improved to 10-3 with a 73-65 win at Millersburg on Jan. 16. 

The game was close all the way, with SJCA taking a 6-point lead heading into the final minutes and then finally holding on for the win.

The WolfPack previously took its ninth win on Jan. 13 against Line Mountain, 66-53, in Herndon. SJCA broke open a close game there in the third quarter to pull away from LM for the 13-point win.

Nick Warner and Charlie Yartz each scored 14 points, while Mike Lower and Tim Peters each had 12 in the game.

BALD EAGLE AREA

Bald Eagle Area is now 8-4 overall after just holding on at Huntingdon for a tense 48-45 win over the improving Bearcats.

With the game tied, 42-42, heading into the final minutes, BEA’s Chase Thompson nailed a jump shot and then Tyler Serb and Kahale Burns each made two clutch foul shots to keep BEA in the lead.

After Serb’s last shot, BEA made a big stop to preserve the 3-point win.

BEA is now 8-4 overall and tied for first place with Clearfield, with a 5-1 record in the Mountain League. 

Next up for BEA will be a showdown with arch-rival Bellefonte in Bellefonte before a home game against Philipsburg-Osceola.


PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA

Speaking of Philipsburg-Osceola, the Mounties won their fifth game of the season on Jan. 15 with a close 43-40 come-from-behind win over East Juniata. 

The non-league win broke a two-game losing streak for P-O after consecutive losses to Bellefonte and Hollidaysburg.

Against East Juniata, the Mounties went into the final eight minutes down by a point, but they went on to outscore the Tigers 10-6 down the stretch to take the win.

P-O was led by Nick Johnson with 13 points, Jake DeSimone with 12 and Oliver Harpster 11.

P-O will next be at Mountain League foes Clearfield and Bald Eagle Area.