How Bellefonte basketball’s Ben McCartney ended his high school career as one of the program’s bests
Ben McCartney stepped to the free throw line Feb. 5 against East Juniata, knowing what a make would mean. He’d been waiting for this moment for the past four seasons.
The game stopped as he made the free throw, and his teammates and fans celebrated. The made free throw marked his 1,000th career point as a Red Raider, making him the sixth player in program history to hit the milestone and culminating the career of one of the best basketball players in Bellefonte history.
The high school senior was happy to reach the milestone in his home gym, but happiness wasn’t the first emotion he felt when the shot dropped.
“It was kind of a relief,” McCartney said. “Not too many people have done it, so I just took a second and realized what I did.”
While McCartney was overcome with relief, the importance of the moment wasn’t lost on his head coach, Kris Glunt.
“It was special,” Glunt said. “You have to take a step back. When you think about the fact that he’s only the sixth person to do that in program history, it’s a special moment. It takes a lot of God-given ability, but also a lot of hard work in the offseason to develop the skill set that puts you in a position to do that.”
Glunt’s happiness was the buildup of four years of hard work with McCartney. His four years at the helm of the program have coincided with the senior’s time on the team. Glunt knew early into their four years together just how special McCartney could be.
The Bellefonte head coach saw an uncommon offensive talent back then and knew immediately the kind of impact McCartney could have. He decided then that the guard would start as a freshman and begin making waves on the court at a young age.
“We were at a shootout in Clearfied,” Glunt said. “He did some things there that made me think he had a real good shot of starting for us as a freshman. He did some special things offensively that led me to think that he could be a really nice offensive player.”
Glunt’s assessment was right and it paid off for McCartney with the 1,000-point milestone, but it also paid off for Bellefonte. Last season, when McCartney was a junior, the guard made a play so memorable that Glunt can still easily recite what happened.
“We were down 63-60 with nine seconds left and (Greater Johnstown) missed a free throw,” he said. “Isaiah Nadolsky got the rebound and got it out to Joey Maggs. Maggs pushed it ahead to McCartney on the left wing and he took the shot. That was a big shot. It was a buzzer-beater and it was a cool moment. Ben really brought some special moments to our program over the last few years.”
The Red Raiders ultimately lost the game, but it remains sewn into McCartney’s memory, as well.
“We were supposed to get blown out,” he said. “We were supposed to lose by 30, or something like that. But we ended up losing in overtime. It was just a really fun game.”
That play remains the peak of McCartney and Bellefonte’s success during his four years with the program. The Red Raiders went 8-14 this season and won’t be continuing on to the postseason, which the senior said had some effect on how much he was able to enjoy his own accomplishment. Still, he was able to enjoy the moment because of the way his teammates and coaches embraced it.
The Red Raiders struggled to find success after point guard D.J. McCaslin suffered an injury during the early part of the season that kept him out the rest of the way. His absence left the team without a primary ball handler and a lead guard to initiate the offense. Glunt decided to hand the keys to the offense over to McCartney.
That decision was the best for the Red Raiders, but it also allowed McCartney to go to work and opened the door to reaching 1,000 points.
“We put him in a position to be a primary ball handler,” Glunt said. “His responsibilities increased but he was still able to maintain a really high-scoring load.”
With his high school basketball career over, and 1,098 points in tow, McCartney isn’t quite done on the court. He plans on playing in college, even if he isn’t quite sure where that will be.
“I fell in love with basketball in third grade,” he said. “I just love the pace of it. Schools are talking to me. I’m pretty sure I’m going to play basketball in college.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 5:18 PM.
