HS roundup: State College’s Maya Bokunewicz honored for 1,000-point milestone in girls’ basketball

State College senior Maya Bokunewicz was honored this past week for making some history.

The Lady Little Lion scored the 1,000th point of her girls’ basketball career at the end of last season. She was recognized Tuesday, ahead of the home opener against Central Dauphin East, which State College won 61-38.

Her teammates presented her with flowers and silver balloons that spelled out “1,000.”

Penns Valley’s Hannah Montminy nearing milestone

After solid individual performances the last two weeks, Penns Valley’s Hannah Montminy is now just 28 points shy of 1,000.

Montminy has shined even as the Lady Rams have struggled to find some momentum. Penns Valley went 0-4 over the last two weeks, losing twice at the Forest Hills Tournament — 66-20 to Forest Hills and 57-32 to Central Cambria — and then 53-40 Wednesday to Central and 72-52 Friday to Tyrone.

In the most recent two games, Montminy finished with 18 and 23 points, respectively.

Against Tyrone, Kennedy Welshans scored 10 points. And, against Central, Lydia Collison added nine points.

SJCA girls’ basketball at 2-2

St. Joseph’s split the first four games to start its season.

The Lady Wolfpack fell to Windber 45-39 and Brookville 57-48, but beat Everett 42-37 and Saltsburg 60-48.

No other information was provided.

Bellefonte splits 4 games

The Lady Red Raiders sit at .500 after their first four games of the season.

Bellefonte started out Dec. 6 with a 49-40 win over East Juniata and then dropped a 50-32 decision the next day to Juniata. On Wednesday, the Lady Raiders fell to Tyrone 67-41 before rebounding with a 63-22 win over Philipsburg-Osceola.

No other information was provided.

P-O has mixed success

P-O started the year off with a win but lost at least two games after that.

On Dec. 6, P-O beat Moshannon Valley 55-28 after Lindsey Bordas scored 20 points, with Kyleigh Kennedy chipping in 14 and Samantha Bainey adding 13. But P-O couldn’t maintain the momentum.

P-O fell 65-19 to Central Mountain on Dec. 7 and, on Friday, Bellefonte beat P-O 63-22.

BEA wins one, drops one

The Lady Eagles began their season with a win over Clearfield before falling later in the week to Central.

Against Clearfield on Wednesday, BEA won 47-38 thanks in large part to Lacee Barnhart’s 17 points and Maddie Perry’s 14. Against Central on Friday, BEA fell 46-26 despite Barnhart’s 14 points and four 3-pointers.

BEA will next take on St. Joseph’s on Monday in Boalsburg.

Girls’ volleyball

5 local girls named to all-state team

Bald Eagle Area led Centre County with three selections on the all-state volleyball team, but both State College and Penns Valley also boasted a representative apiece.

Among the Lady Eagles to earn the Class 2A honor were Grace Hugar, Madison Rockey and Lexi Skripek. Penns Valley’s Jadyn Butler, a junior, was also named to the Class 2A team.

State College’s Kacy Sekunda earned a nod on the Class 3A team.

A little more than 50 players from each classification were named to the respective all-state teams.

Wrestling

Bellefonte finishes 4th at King of the Mountain

Ethan Richner led the Red Raiders with the 160-pound title Saturday at the King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain, as his squad finished fourth out of 32 competing teams.

Canon McMillan finished first with 189 points, followed by Mifflin County (181), Chestnut Ridge (163.5) and Bellefonte (129).

Richner also wasn’t alone in bringing home a medal. Ethan Rossman (182) finished second, Jude Swisher (126) finished third, Lane Aikey (120) was fourth, Alex Coppolo (132) was fifth, and Aidan O’Shea ended in sixth.

Richner won his title with an 8-3 decision over Connor Quinn from Owen J. Roberts.

Earlier in the week, Bellefonte also upended Tyrone 66-8.

P-O opens season with 2-0 start

Philipsburg-Osceola couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the season, with wins over both Hollidaysburg and Huntingdon.

P-O defeated Hollidaysburg 45-22 on Dec. 6 and Huntingdon 37-33 on Thursday.

The victory against Huntingdon was especially a nail-biter. P-O trailed 33-32 heading into the final match at 152 pounds. But the Mounties’ Chase Chapman recorded a technical fall over Seth Emel, 18-2 (3:37), to lead his team to victory.

Among the Mounties who finished with falls Thursday against Huntingdon were Dominic Shaw (160), Nick Coudriet (113) and Gabriel Dunkelberger (132). P-O wrestlers with pins against Hollidaysburg included Hunter Weitoish (160), Cody Beauseigneur (182) and Parker Moore (195)

BEA’s Gage McClenahan wins ‘King of the Mountain’

Bald Eagle Area’s Gage McClenahan won the 145-pound weight class Saturday at the prestigious King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain.

McClenahan slipped past Saegertown’s Kenneth Kiser in the final by way of 4-3 decision.

Two of McClenahan’s teammates, Cooper Gilham and Cohen Bainey, also placed in the tournament. Bainey finished seventh at 106 pounds, while Gilham was eighth at 120 pounds.

Earlier in the week, the team also earned an important victory. On Tuesday, the Eagles knocked off Clearfield 39-30 in a memorable comeback.

Clearfield led 30-27, but Bald Eagle Area rallied to end the match on a 12-0 run. Gabe Millward earned a 14-11 decision in his varsity debut at 120 pounds to knot the score at 30-30; Gilman then recorded a fall and Drake Holderman added a decision to clinch the win.

Penns Valley places 2 at Holiday Classic

The Rams’ Clay Royer and Malachi DuVall both came home with some accolades from the 2019 Panther Holiday Classic.

Royer finished in fourth place, while DuVall came in third Saturday.

That came a week after the Blairsville Duals, where the Rams suffered from a thin lineup and a lot of accompanying forfeits. As a result, Penns Valley went 1-3 at the tournament Dec. 7, beating Johnstown 40-27 — but losing to Myersdale (42-33), Derry Area (48-32) and S. Mooreland (39-36).

The JV team made history by winning the tournament for the second straight year.

2 Little Lions finish 2nd at King of the Mountain

State College’s Hayden Cunningham and Lance Urbas finished as the runners-up Saturday to the King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain.

Cunningham fell 7-2 to Mifflin County’s Nicholas Allison to take second place at 106 pounds, while Urbas lost 5-0 to Mifflin County’s Trey Kibe at 170 pounds.

Other place-winners Saturday included Owen Woolcott (fourth place, 132 pounds), Eric Weaver (sixth place, 120 pounds) and Harrison Hoopes (eighth place, 152 pounds).

So far this season, State College has finished second at the WV Elite Opener Tournament in West Virginia and beat Shikellamy 59-15. The Little Lions also finished ninth overall at the King of the Mountain Tournament.

Boys’ basketball

P-O wins tournament, drops 2 in regular season

Philipsburg-Osceola started the season off on the right foot but dropped two tough games this past week.

On Dec. 6, the Mounties were crowned the Southern Huntingdon Tip-Off Tournament champions after a 66-61 win over Mount Union, which came following a convincing victory in the opening round over Southern Huntingdon.

P-O’s Ryan Whitehead was named the tournament MVP, while both Jeremy Whitehead and Ryan earned spots on the all-tournament team. Ryan had a game-high 21 points in the title game, while Jeremy added 14.

But P-O’s winning ways came to an end in two of its more recent games. Huntingdon beat P-O 78-55 Tuesday, and Bellefonte won 58-57 Friday.

Ryan Whitehead boasted the game-highs in both of those contests, with 17 points and 24 points, respectively.

SJCA suffers tough losses

A young St. Joseph’s basketball team sputtered early in the season with four straight losses.

SJCA opened with two losses in the Brookvile Tip-Off Tournament on Dec. 7, with an 86-39 loss to defending District 9 champ Brookville and a close 64-62 loss to Brockway. In games earlier this week, the Wolfpack fell 84-52 to Saltsburg and 69-53 to Penns Valley.

Brendan Scanlon flashed during the opening tournament, with a career-high 37 points against Brockway. He was also named to the all-tournament team, after scoring 23 points in the Brookville loss.

“The team grew up a lot over the course of two games,” coach Richard Ciambotti said. “Friday night was a very difficult way to open up the season, against a terrific opponent, but they battled regardless. Saturday the team could have folded. Instead they fought back into the game and took the lead late. Now we just need to learn how to finish. The improvement over four halves of basketball was excellent.”

BEA drops pair

Bald Eagle Area couldn’t overcome two tough opponents in Clearfield and West Branch.

The Eagles fell 61-57 on Dec. 6 to West Branch, falling in overtime. But there were still several standout performances: Nathan Hoover had 19 points, while Jaden Jones had 13 and Luke Wilson added 10.

On Tuesday, Clearfield beat BEA 56-38. Jones led the Eagles with 14 points, while Nick Maynard chipped in 13.

State College earns win

Three players reached double digits for State College in a 62-56 win over Bishop Shanahan on Dec. 6 in the first round of the Skip Coleman Memorial Tournament.

Johnny Friberg led the team with 18 points, while Cole Friberg and Jaden Mitchell both had 10 points apiece in the win.

State College fell to West Chester East 74-60 on Dec. 7 and Central Dauphin East 52-48 Tuesday. No other information was provided.

Hockey

State College riding 3-game win streak

State College’s Robert Zimmerman recorded five goals Thursday night in the Little Lions’ 7-0 win over Conemaugh Valley.

Zander Faust added a team-high three assists, while both Thomas Hay and Rees Engel also added one goal apiece. Goalie John Olsen made 18 saves in the shutout.

The win gives State College a three-game winning streak, meaning it hasn’t lost yet in December.

This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 5:34 PM.