Bearcats drop Bald Eagle girls

By rscaife
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Updated: December 22, 2016

WINGATE – Defensively, the Bald Eagle girls basketball team played a scrappy first half against Mountain League foe Huntingdon Wednesday night in front of the Eagles’ home crowd.
They held the Bearcats to very few second chance shots in the half, allowing just 19 first half points.
However, its offense never seemed to get on track in the first 16 minutes only landing an 11-point effort.
Huntingdon blew the game open in the third quarter after allowing the Lady Eagles to get within striking distance in the early minutes.
Going into the final stanza, Huntingdon holds its own and kept Bald Eagle at bay to finish the night as 54-31 victors.
Maddie Gearhart gave the team the offense it needed finishing as the only player on either team with double-digit scoring as she planted a game-high 14 points in the win. Teammate Heather Gutshall just missed finishing in the double-digit scoring section with a 9-point effort while back court mate Timani Easter landed eight.
Bald Eagle got a 7-point effort by Julia Cingle Nd teammate Liz Wellar, in a losing effort.
“We told them coming out at half time that they needed to score and we did. We got the first five points,”
Bald Eagle Area coach Jim Josefik said. “And once they started scoring it was hard to stop. We just can’t figure out how to stop it. It stinks because they work hard at practice and you have a good attitude. But they just can’t get the ball to go in.”
In the first quarter, the defensive game by both teams were strong.
Huntingdon scored the first point when Kynnedy Miller hit one for two from the charity stripe with 4:04 showing on the clock.
Bald Eagle took the lead less than a minute later when Brianna Dyke hit both her shots from the foul line, making it a 2-1 contest.
Both teams pressed heavily in the period which led to Gearhart picking up an old fashion three-point opportunity and a bucket by Heather Gutshall to end the quarter leading 6-2.
The visitors went into the intermission with a 19-11 advantage thanks to a Bearcat 13-9 scoring effort in the period.
Early on in the third, the Eagles started to make their move.
Wellar led off the scoring with a tough basket in the lane, cutting it to a 6-point ball game.
After a Bearcat turnover, the Eagles got the ball back and Cingle brought her team even closer hit two more from the free throw line, making it 19-15.
Defensively, the Lady Eagles stood tall once more forcing yet another turnover.
This time Bald Eagle got the ball into the hands of inside center Alexis Bucha. Bucha went strong at the hoop and was successful closing the gap to just two at 19-17.
But before they knew what hit them,the Bearcats came with a resurgence of their own.
In the final five minutes of the quarter, Huntingdon outscored the Eagles 21-5. En route to taking a 40-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Despite battling all the way down to the final buzzer, the Lady Eagles fell by 23.
In the Jv contest, Huntingdon came out victorious as well,37-34.