Bedford quietly ends Juniata boys season

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: February 22, 2022

MIFFLINTOWN – It wasn’t exactly how Juniata wanted to see its season come to an end, but tough and aggressive defense carried the Bedford Bisons over the Indians by the final score of 71-42 in a first round boys basketball game during the District 6 Class 4A playoffs Monday night.

The aggressive defense was shown very quickly by Bedford using a very physical and well timed full-court press. The Indians struggled at first in handling the pressure for most of the period which allowed the Bisons to pull ahead.

But late in the opening quarter, Juniata started climbing back and closed the gap a bit and kept the game close with Bedford taking a 12-8 lead after one quarter of play.

However things started to go in favor of the Bisons during the second quarter where Kevin Ressler just went off from beyond the arc hitting all four of his shots exclusively from downtown. In fact, Ressler scored as many points in the first half as Juniata did as a team for the whole first half of the game with 17.

The Bedford defense continued to be a problem for the Indians as well as the Bisons forced Juniata into turnovers. The Bisons also attacked the boards in the period as well collected offensive rebounds and created numerous second chance opportunities. Bedford took a 34-17 lead at the break.

The high pressure defense from Bedford was just as intense in the third quarter as it was in the second quarter.

Juniata did not have much room to get into its respective offense as anytime a Juniata player had possession of the ball whether it was a rebound or a pass, there was always someone from Bedford that was there and immediately applied pressure and trying to swap the ball away.

The only difference in the second half was Maxwell Washington who dominated inside and led the Bisons in the period with eight points scored.

Ressler led the Bisons with a game high of 25 points while Washington had 15 for the evening. The three ball was a major tool in the Bedford offense as the Bisons dropped eight shots from deep for the night.

But despite the deficit, the Indians continued to battle throughout and refused to quit as they were able to get past the Bedford pressure and scored more points in the second half than they did in the first half with 25 points for the final two periods of the evening.

Max Lauver led the Juniata attack and dropped all four shots from beyond the arc for the Indians and led with a team high of 20 points.

Fellow seniors GG Ortiz and Jacob Condo each added six points.

With this loss, Juniata’s season has come to an end and finished the season with an overall record of (14-9). But coach Ream was extremely proud of his teams’ efforts and accomplishments throughout the season.

Congratulations to Juniata for an incredible season!

Bedford 71, Juniata 42
JUNIATA
Caleb Smith 0 0-0 0, Bryce Rush 0 1-2 1, Jacob Condo 3 0-1 6, GG Ortiz 3 0-4 6, Luis Caraballo 0 0-0 0, Grant Reinhold 0 0-0 0, Makih Hunt 1 0-0 2, Evan Leach 2 1-2 5, Max Lauver 8 0-0 20, Wyatt Stoner 1 0-0 2, Brandon Snyder 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 2-9 42
3-point goals: Lauver 4
BEDFORD
Luke Sell 0 0-0 0, John Black 1 0-0 2, Mercury Swaim 2 2-2 6, Matt Edwards 1 3-4 5, Kevin Ressler 9 1-1 25, Justin Arnold 1 0-0 3, Zach Vent 1 3-4 5, Datton Hylton 0 0-0 0, Ethan Weber 3 4-8 10, Josiah Weyandt 0 0-0 0, Maxwell Washington 7 0-1 15. Totals: 25 13-20 71
3-point goals: Ressler 6, Arnold, Washington
Score by quarters
B 12-22-22-15 – 71
J 8-9-13-12 – 42