Abbey Bruni’s ‘calming presence’ leads Bellefonte girls’ basketball to win over BEA

Admittedly, Lady Red Raider coach Adam Gearhart was nervous before his squad hosted Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday night. It was a rivalry setting, a game Bellefonte sorely needed and a matchup against a friend and mentor, Lady Eagles coach Darin Hazel.

All three factors made Gearhart a bit shaky, a tad anxious. But senior guard Abbey Bruni provided a calming presence in Bellefonte’s 40-24 win.

“He was really nervous about the whole thing,” Bruni said, smiling.

“Abbey kept telling me to relax,” Gearhart said, shaking his head. “She was telling the girls to relax. ‘We got this, Coach. We got this.’ And she had it tonight.”

Bruni alleviated concerns before and during her team’s win over BEA, putting up a season-high 15 points. Mallorie Smith and Maddie Steiner chipped in eight and six points, respectively, for the Lady Red Raiders (2-9). Morgan Chambers and Sarah Holler each had six for BEA (2-9).

While the Lady Eagles hit just one 3-pointer, Bruni nailed three from beyond the arc, and she started from the get-go. BEA held an early 4-0 lead, but Bruni’s first trey helped the Lady Red Raiders snatch an early 10-8 advantage — as it didn’t surrender the lead for the rest of the game.

And that was thanks in large part to Bellefonte’s lone senior. Bruni had 12 first-half points, while BEA managed only 18 at the break.

The Lady Red Raiders knew right away Bruni was on.

“We’ve been waiting for a game like that from Abbey,” Gearhart said. “When she came out and was knocking them down, I looked to my assistant coach and said, ‘She’s feeling it tonight.’”

Added sophomore guard Mallorie Smith: “I’m just like, ‘OK, I’m going to get Abbey open, and I’m going to throw it to Abbey.’ It kind of changes the gameplan.”

Hazel agreed.

Less than halfway through the second quarter, Bruni hit her second 3-pointer off a steal by active freshman Maddie Tice. It extended Bellefonte’s advantage to 17-10, the largest of the night at that point.

BEA’s coach was forced to call timeout and regroup his girls. And it worked. The Lady Eagles, running their offense to near perfection, rattled off six straight points to make it a 17-16 game.

But from that point on — from the three-minute mark in the second quarter to the end of the game — BEA was outscored 23-8. With Bruni hitting and Smith, Steiner and Tice forcing back-breaking turnovers, the Lady Eagles’ composure broke down.

A “huge learning curve” became obvious.

“For us, it’s just the attention to detail and staying focused,” the Lady Eagles’ coach said. “In the second half, we might have run the offense less than five times, and that shows. Trying to get them to understand some of those things is challenging.”

But Hazel also gave credit to Bruni and the Lady Red Raiders. Bellefonte outhustled and outplayed its Mountain League rival.

Plagued by two losses by five points or fewer to open the season, the Lady Red Raiders never really recovered. Their only win — a 30-26 grind-it-out effort against East Juniata — was nearly a month ago.

Wednesday night did more than snap a six-game losing streak. It gave Bellefonte a much-needed boost before facing Huntingdon and Penns Valley in the next six days.

“I think this might start a winning streak for us,” Bruni said. “We had no confidence, and going forward this will help us out a lot.”

Added Gearhart: “We needed a win like this.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 11:44 PM with the headline "Abbey Bruni’s ‘calming presence’ leads Bellefonte girls’ basketball to win over BEA."