After a cold fourth quarter led to a 3-point loss to Harrisburg on Jan. 20, the State College Little Lions came back with a big win against Mid Penn foe Cumberland Valley on Jan. 24.
Bellefonte has now won three straight after a 59-54 non-conference victory over Loyalsock on Jan. 23, and Penns Valley won two of its last three games with wins over Bellwood-Antis and Huntingdon. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy improved to 12-4, while Penn Manor broke a three-game Philipsburg-Osceola winning streak with a 75-72 win on Jan. 23.
Here’s a closer look at each of the local high school basketball teams:
STATE COLLEGE
The State College Little Lions, after losing their undefeated Mid Penn Commonwealth record with a loss to Harrisburg on Jan. 20, returned to form four days later with a 60-49 victory over 14-2 Cumberland Valley in Mechanicsburg.
The Lions and CV had been tied for the conference lead with identical 7-1 records, but the win put State College alone in first place.
Against Harrisburg, the Little Lions held on to a slim 5-point lead heading into the final minutes of the game.
With just under five minutes to play, the Cougars cut the SC lead to 4 points, 44-40, and then outscored SC 18-11 going down the stretch.
In the final four minutes, the Cougars went 9-for-14 from the line and scored off two offensive rebounds to take a 52-46 lead with less than two minutes left.
The Little Lions saw some life after a 3-pointer by Braeden Shrewsberry cut the lead to 3, 52-49, but Harrisburg responded with another follow-up that made it 54-49.
State College pulled to within 2 points, 57-55, with seven seconds left after a 3-pointer by Lake Black, and then immediately fouled.
Harrisburg made one, and SC had a chance for a tie as the buzzer sounded, but the shot by Black bounced out and the Cougars had their biggest win of the season.
State College, 15-2 overall and 9-1 in the conference, will now take on Carlisle at home on Jan. 27, Chambersburg away on Jan. 31, CD East away on Feb. 1 and Cumberland Valley again, at home, on Feb. 7 in the regular season final.
BELLEFONTE
The Bellefonte Raiders improved to .500 for the first time since early December after winning four of their last five games following the 3-point loss at Clearfield on Jan. 5.
The only bump in that streak was a 55-46 loss to Tyrone at home on Jan. 12. Otherwise, the Raiders beat P-O, 58-49; Bald Eagle, 56-37; Huntingdon, 55-43; and non-league Loyalsock Township, 59-54, in Williamsport on Jan. 23.
Against BEA, Bellefonte used a hot-shooting first half and a shut-down defense to open up a 25-7 halftime lead over the Bald Eagles and cruised out from there for win five this season.
Jacob McConnell led the offense with 16 points, while Derek Cox closely followed with 14 points.
Two nights later against Huntingdon at home, things didn’t go so well in the first half against the Bearcats, and the Raiders led by just 28-20 at the half.
But led by Cox, Bellefonte scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and extended its lead to 38-20 before Huntingdon was able to score another basket.
Bellefonte took that lead into the final quarter, but Huntingdon fought all the way and actually closed to within 8 points coming down to crunch time.
Cox, however, finished with a field goal and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line as his team held off Huntingdon for the 55-43 win.
Finally, the Raiders outlasted Loyalsock Township, 59-54, in a closely matched affair in Williamsport on Jan. 23.
The Raiders built a tenuous 30-21 lead going into halftime, but Loyalsock cut that to 5 points after the third quarter.
However, led by 6-foot-9 center Cole Crissman, along with Ryder Hamilton and Cox, Bellefonte matched Loyalsock down the stretch and held on for its seventh win of the season against seven losses.
Crissman was the high scorer for Bellefonte with 14 points, and he was followed by Hamilton with 14 and Cox with 10.
Bellefonte is now 6-4 in Mountain League play with conference opponents Hollidaysburg, Clearfield, Philipsburg and Tyrone coming up on the schedule.
ST. JOSEPH’S
The WolfPack outlasted Juniata, 58-52, on Jan. 23 to improve to 12-4 for the season.
St. Joseph’s took an 8-point lead, 30-22, into the second half and held on to that lead until the final minutes. With less than two minutes to play, the Indians creeped to within 54-52, but SJCA went 4-4 from the line from there and held Juniata without a point to gut out the 6-point win.
On Jan. 12 at Greenwood, however, things were turned around as Greenwood took the early lead and never gave it up in a 71-56 win over the WolfPack.
Greenwood streaked ahead 32-27 at halftime, and after a brief rally by St. Joseph’s, went on a 39-29 run in the second half to take the win.
Charlie Yartz led SJCA with 22 points, and Michael Lower added 15.
SJCA, now No. 3 in the District 6 A rankings, will face East Juniata Jan. 26, Williamsburg on Jan. 27 and Newport on Jan. 30.
PENNS VALLEY
After taking tough victories over Bellwood-Antis and Huntingdon, the Penns Valley Rams couldn’t keep it going against Tyrone on Jan. 20 in a 45-42 loss.
Tyrone came out hot and took an early 22-9 lead over the Rams and then doggedly held on to that lead throughout the night.
The Rams closed to within 10 after three quarters, but the two teams traded baskets in the final eight minutes and PV could not make up any ground.
Fletcher Ironside led the Rams with 17 points and Gavin Robb followed with 16.
On Jan. 16, Penns Valley turned to its defense in a 45-30 win over Bellwood-Antis. Bellwood managed just 4 points in the first quarter and 9 by halftime as PV built an 11-point lead.
It was more of the same in the second half as Jackson Romig scored 10 of his 24 points in the third quarter and allowed his team to cruise out to its second win of the season.
PV will next face Bald Eagle Area at home on Jan. 27 and then take on non-league Juniata in Mifflintown on Jan. 28. The Rams will then return home Jan. 31 to face Philipsburg-Osceola.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
It’s getting down to crunch time for the improving Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties.
After the team scratched its way back to .500 for the season with a defense-heavy 37-26 win over Bald Eagle Area, P-O was edged by Penn Manor, 75-72, in a foot race on Jan. 23.
The next evening, P-O couldn’t keep up with Tyrone’s frantic pace and fell to the Golden Eagles, 71-60, in Philipsburg.
Tyrone kept the pressure, on offense and defense, and slowly pulled away from the Mounties for its ninth victory against five losses.
Jake DeSimone led P-O with 21 points, and Oliver Harpster had 20, but the Mounties were plagued the entire night by cold stretches and turnovers that led to easy Tyrone baskets.
All of this left the Mounties with a 7-9 overall record and the No. 9 spot in the District 6 AAA rankings. Nine teams will qualify for the AAA tournament, so the Mounties need to keep their present position or improve it. Forest Hills, 7-6, is presently No. 8 and just 1 ranking point ahead of P-O.
The Mounties’ remaining games, then, will become more and more important. Those games include Huntingdon, Penns Valley, Bellefonte, Hollidaysburg, Moshannon Valley and River Valley.
BALD EAGLE AREA
Bald Eagle Area won its eighth game of the season on Jan. 12 when Chase Thompson’s basket broke a last-minute 42-42 tie at Huntingdon and the Bald Eagles then went on to a 48-45 win.
Tyler Serb and Kahale Burns each made two foul shots down the stretch, and BEA held Huntingdon to just a 3-pointer by Eli Ehresman to hold on for the team’s eighth win against five losses.
Things, however, have not turned out well for BEA since then.
Against Bellefonte on Jan. 17, the Eagles were ice cold to begin the game and scored just 7 points in the first half of a 56-37 loss to the Raiders.
Bellefonte took a 25-7 lead at halftime that it would not relinquish even though BEA bounced back with 30 points in the second half.
Burns led the Eagles with 14 in the game.
Then on Jan. 19, BEA was again stymied in the first quarter at home against Philipsburg-Osceola. The Mounties held the Eagles to just 3 points, and even though BEA improved in the middle quarters, it was still enough for P-O to hold on for a 37-26 win.
BEA did not have a double-figure scorer in the game, with Thompson leading the way with 8 points.
The loss put BEA at 8-7 for the season and dropped the Eagles into the No. 6 spot in the District 6 AAA rankings, with nine teams slated to qualify for the tournament.
That said, BEA’s upcoming games against Clearfield, Jersey Shore, Penns Valley, Northern Cambria, Hollidaysburg and Huntingdon will all be important in holding that position.
