Bellefonte boys basketball coasts past rival Bald Eagle Area after hot start
Situated just miles away from one another, Bellefonte and Bald Eagle have a storied history of basketball between the two schools.
Tuesday night’s matchup had a great deal — chirping between the fans of both schools, animated coaches and players out of their seats and multiple and-one plays. The Red Raiders ultimately got the better of the Eagles with a 60-48 score.
The Red Raiders are in the midst of a 10-2 season — seeing their lone two losses come against Huntingdon and Tyrone on the year. Bellefonte assistant coach Josh Kroell has seen his team outscore opponents 752-595 on the season by scoring at all three levels of the court. With four players in double figures including Blair Eckley-Jones, Nicholas Way, DJ McCaslin and Gannon Brungard, the Red Raiders can give most teams a run for their money with their offense.
“Our offense is a motion offense, we’re not focused on one guy,” Kroell said. “We get good looks and when we get good looks, we’re going to take it. The more guys that can score, the better off we are as a team and as a unit. That’s the way that we’ve been all year for the most part. We’ve had a lot of guys in double figures for us.”
Eckley-Jones was at the forefront of Bellefonte’s scoring attack with 19 points. The senior forward scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Bald Eagle got into some foul trouble and Eckley-Jones executed by getting to the line, going 3-for-5 from the charity stripe. He continued to be the team’s leading scorer and the offense truly got going when he was given opportunities in the paint to either kick to a shooter or finish himself.
“I knew it was a close game and I knew we needed some buckets,” Eckley-Jones said. “So, I had to lock in and get it done. I just let my teammates get me the ball in the right position and I just score. I look to help, I look to facilitate, but if we need a bucket, I’ll get it.”
Way finished with 14 points on the night and carried the team’s scoring through the first three quarters. He finished with four points in the first quarter. Then, he had two 3-point field goals in the second quarter, before finishing with four more points in the third.
“If you can hit the three, they’ll start playing out and you can attack and feed it to the post,” Way said. “Then, if they start pinching, we can kick it out and we have the three. It’s huge having different ways to score.”
Bellefonte jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with 6:13 left in the first quarter. Eckley-Jones had five points with a hook shot and a 3-point field goal from the top of the key. He finished the quarter with seven points and the Red Raiders had an 18-8 lead.
Bald Eagle pulled closer in the second quarter with contributions by Chase Thompson, Alex Gavlock, Tyler Serb, Ethan Koleno and Cam Watkins to trail 31-19 at the half.
The Red Raiders opened the second half with Way making a free throw and then draining a 3-point field goal. Thompson answered for the Eagles to draw them closer with a 42-34 deficit at the close of the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter began to progress, Eckley-Jones raised his level of play — scoring nine points. He finished off a strong performance for the Red Raiders to close out the game in victory.
Bald Eagle coach Kris Glunt continues to be impressed with his team’s determination. The second-year coach believes that his team is just a few steps away from finishing with victories. With just two seniors in Gavlock and Koleno, his team is still in the process of building.
“I think we were down 12-0 — the first quarter was just not a good quarter for us,” Glunt said. “We’ve been off for a couple of days and we came out a little stagnant, but at the end of the day, I thought we battled.
“Bellefonte is an excellent team — they’ve got a lot of talent, they’ve got a lot of experience. But we’re a program on the rise and I told our guys, ‘We either win or we learn.’ I’m proud of how we battled. We’re going to take some things away from this and we’re going to keep plugging away.”
Bellefonte 60, Bald Eagle 48
BELL (10-2): Eckley-Jones 19, Way 14, McCaslin 12, Brungard 11, Corman 2, Kroell 2
BEA (3-9): Gavlock 11, Watkins 10, Thompson 9, Koleno 6, Angellotti 4, Burns 4, Serb 4
First Half: 31-19, Bellefonte
This story was originally published January 18, 2022 at 10:52 PM.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story including incorrect information about Bellefonte’s coaching staff. Assistant coach Josh Kroell led the Jan. 18 game in place of coach Rick Hall.
