HS Sports Week in Review: Wrestling, basketball postseasons picking up steam

Here’s everything you missed in high school sports around Centre County from this past week:

Wrestling

12 Class 2A wrestlers qualify for states

Four Centre County schools combined to send 12 wrestlers to the Class 2A state championships in Hershey from March 7-9.

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy was the big winner by having two wrestlers win at Saturday’s Southwest Regional 2A Championships and four more place high enough to take the team title with 140.5 points.

Caleb Dowling (145) and Kolby Franklin (195) repeated as regional champions while Amonn Ohl (120) and Tyler Stolfzfus (160) finished second. Zack Witmer (132) and Keegan Rothrock (152) both came in third to qualify for the state tournament as well.

Two wrestlers each from Philipsburg-Osceola, Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley advanced to states as well.

P-O’s Chase Chapman (132) finished second, and Hunter Weitoish (152) overcame a recent ankle injury to place fifth. Baylor Shunk (120) and Malachi DuVall (138) from Penns Valley qualified by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. BEA’s Cooper Gilham (113) came in third, and Garrett Giedroc (120) placed sixth to advance.

16 Bellefonte, State College wrestlers heading to regionals

A combined 16 wrestlers from Bellefonte and State College qualified for next weekend’s Class 3A Northwest Regional Tournament.

Bellefonte crowned four District 6 Class 3A champions and State College one at Saturday’s district championships in Altoona.

Ryan Smith (126 pounds), Cole Stewart (138), Ethan Richner (152) and Kyle Myers (170) all brought home district gold for Bellefonte. State’s Cole Urbas (195) won his third straight district championship and was voted the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

Two Red Raiders, Lane Aikey (120) and Ethan Rossman (182), placed second after losing in the finals. Max Barrier placed third at 220. Aaron Little (113), Alex Coppolo (126) and Logan Simpson (160) all placed fourth and earned berths to the regional tournament.

For State College, Jude Swisher (113) and Owen Woolcott (126) each finished as a runner-up after losses in the finals. Ty Price battled back for a third-place finish at 160, as did Tate McLaughlin at 182. Bailey Weaverling (106) placed fourth to round out the Little Lions’ regionals contingent.

Bellefonte finished second to Central Mountain in the team standings with 197 points. State College came in fifth with 122 points.

Boys’ basketball

State College wins district title

State College fell behind Altoona early but rallied to down the Mountain Lions 56-53 in the District 6 Class 6A championship game Thursday at Hollidaysburg Area High School.

Altoona jumped out to a 16-11 lead after one quarter. By the end of the third, the Little Lions tied the game at 42-42 and pulled out the win in the fourth. Cam Villarouel led SC with 18 points, and Brenden Franks recorded a double-double with 16 points and at least 10 rebounds. Tommy Friberg added 14 points.

The Little Lions move on to the District 6-8-10 subregional semifinals Tuesday at a neutral site and will advance to the state playoffs with a win in that game.

SJCA suffers OT loss in district semis

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy lost in the District 6 Class A semifinals, falling at home to Juniata Valley 78-75 in overtime Saturday.

The Wolves led by five at halftime, but Valley came back to tie it by the end of regulation and win it overtime.

Jack Mangene led the SJCA boys with 21 points and 16 rebounds for a double-double. Cameron Khoza scored 16 points, and Brendan Scanlon added 15.

The season is not over for St. Joseph’s, however. The Wolves play Blacklick Valley in the consolation game Tuesday with the winner advancing to the state playoffs.

Penns Valley falls short

Sixth-seeded Penns Valley lost to Forest Hills, the third seed, 52-48 in the District 6 Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday.

Down 16 early in the fourth quarter, the Rams rallied to the tie the game with a minute left, but Forest Hills pulled out the win on a 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go. Logan Snyder led all scorers with 15 points, while Aaron Tobias and Zach Braucht each contributed nine for Penns Valley, which finishes the season at 12-10.

Bellefonte dominates in OT

Bellefonte downed Hollidaysburg 46-34 in overtime Tuesday in the District 6 Class 5A semifinals, advancing to play Greater Johnstown in the championship game Monday at Penn State Altoona.

After sputtering on offense throughout regulation, the Red Raiders came to life in overtime, outscoring Hollidaysburg 15-3 to take the win. Noah Badger scored six of his 11 points in the extra session, and Nate Tice was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Caleb Rockey led the Red Raiders with a game-high 19 points.

Girls’ basketball

Penns Valley punches ticket to states

Penns Valley clinched a spot in the state playoffs with a 45-27 win over Central in the District 6 Class 3A quarterfinals and will continue its run toward a district championship Tuesday with a semifinal game against Central Cambria.

Top-seeded Penns Valley jumped out to a 16-5 lead in the first quarter against the eighth-seeded Lady Dragons. When Bella Culver banked a shot from three-quarter court at the halftime buzzer, the Lady Rams were up 26-11. Culver finished with 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for a double-double.

Hannah Montminy scored 12 points, and Jordan Andrus added nine points. With four teams from District 6 Class 3A going to the state playoffs, all four semifinalists advance.

SJCA drops game in semis

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy lost to Purchase Line in the District 6 Class A semifinals at home Saturday 51-41.

Tied after one quarter, Purchase Line outscored the Lady Wolves 17-8 in the second for a nine-point halftime lead. St. Jospeh’s answered with 20 points in the third, however, to make it a one-point game headed to the fourth.

Purchase Line pulled out the win, though, with 15 fourth-quarter points. Selena Mann led the Lady Wolves with 19 points, and Denaya Poston-Cooper added nine points.

St. Joseph’s gets one more chance to extend its season. The Lady Wolves play Blacklick Valley in the consolation game Tuesday with the winner going to the state tournament.

State College falls in district finals

State College lost to Altoona in the District 6 Class 6A championship game Thursday 50-38 at Hollidaysburg Area High School.

The Lady Little Lions led by three midway through the third quarter, but Altoona went on an 8-0 run to close out the quarter and take control of the game.

Maya Bokunewicz paced the Lady Little Lions with a team-high 15 points, and Isabelle Leazier added 11.

Altoona advances to the state playoffs with the win, but State College can still qualify. The Lady Little Lions will face the winner of Tuesday’s Allderdice-Erie subregional game with the winner of that game moving on.

P-O’s season ends

Philipsburg-Osceola’s season ended Tuesday with a 37-24 loss to Central in the first round of the District 6 Class 3A playoffs.

Central surged to a big, early held that put P-O in a 13-point halftime hole from which the Lady Mounties could not dig out of. Halle Herrington ended her prolific career with 14 points, extending her Centre County career scoring record to 2,331 points.

Philipsburg-Osceola’s season ends at 10-12.

Bellefonte loses playoff opener

Bellefonte’s season ended Monday with a 45-40 loss to DuBois in the first round of the District 6-8-9 Class 5A playoffs.

Bellefonte, playing without injured Maddie Tice, trailed by just two at halftime and tied the game several times in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Raiders could never take the lead.

Mallorie Smith scored a team-high 14 points, while Sara DeHaas recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Maddie Steiner added seven points for Bellefonte, whose season ends at 9-14.