Bellefonte boys basketball holds Bald Eagle to 7 points in first half, rolls to victory
Bellefonte’s gym was rumbling, the seats filled with red and blue shirts to welcome in Mountain League rival Bald Eagle on Tuesday for a basketball game.
The Red Raiders held senior night, and they sent their upperclassmen out with a bang. Bellefonte won 56-37, led by Jacob McConnell’s 16 points, Derek Cox’s 14 points and stout defense.
“I think all of us got on the boards pretty well, and we were out running and flashing into the paint when we were in that zone,” McConnell said. “We made a couple of shots and just finished.”
Cox looked to find his confidence once again after having a string of poor shooting performances. He immediately got to the bucket to begin the game, showing no signs of rust, and he looked unflappable at times with the defense closing in on him.
“I kind of didn’t have much confidence before this and now my confidence is really up after this,” Cox said. “It feels really good to beat Bald Eagle by that margin.”
Bellefonte head coach Rick Hall has seen his team nearly sweep Centre County teams during the season. The Red Raiders have already swept both Bald Eagle and Penns Valley on the season and are looking for a second victory over Philipsburg-Osceola on Feb. 3.
“I just think that with these kids, it’s finally starting to come together,” Hall said. “Anytime you beat your archrival, the kids feel great about it. We had a great practice leading up to it. One of their goals was to go undefeated in the county, and they’re one win away from doing that. But they played hard, they played smart and they played with confidence tonight.”
Bald Eagle didn’t score until 2 minutes, 2 secons left in the first quarter when Bellefonte’s Jacob Corman fouled Kahale Burns and Burns made two free throws.
The Red Raiders defense smothered the Eagles offense in the opening stanza. Cole Crissman anchored rim-protecting duties by using his 6-foot, 8-inch frame to alter shots in the post. Bellefonte ended the quarter with an 11-4 lead with Cox scoring five, followed by Crissman, McConnell and Davis Corman with two points. Bald Eagle’s four points came on 2-point buckets from Kahale Burns and Chase Thompson.
Cox added four more points in the second quarter with McConnell boosting his scoring output to eight points at the half. Burn scored two more points, and Kieran Jodon sank a free throw for Bald Eagle, which trailed 25-7 at the half.
Bald Eagle went on to cut Bellefonte’s lead to 40-23 in the third quarter. The Eagles were led by Blaze Angellotti’s six points and Cam Watkins’ four points, along with three more points from Burns.
The Eagles’ comeback attempt was stopped in its tracks with more scoring and defense by Crissman, and Ryder Hamilton thwarting attempts to score.
Bald Eagle head coach Kris Glunt understands that his team needs to play with more urgency in the first half. The team’s ability to manage just seven points in the first half was not going to cut it.
“(It’s) disappointing all of the way around,” Glunt said. “You can’t score seven in a half and really give yourself a chance to win the game. We came out and battled and did some good things, but then we just started trading baskets. I thought we turned the energy up a little bit, we missed some rotations, which I thought would’ve helped us have a chance.”
Bellefonte hosts Huntingdon at home on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., while Bald Eagle will host Philipsburg-Osceola at the same time.
Bellefonte 56, Bald Eagle 37
B (5-7): McConnell 16, Cox 14, Hamilton 9, D. Corman 5, Crissman 6, Fisher 2, J. Corman 2, Tomasacci 2
BEA (8-6): Burns 14, Serb 6, Angellotti 6, Watkins 6, Jodon 3, Thompson 2
