Bellefonte 3-point game outlasts Penns Valley in Winter Jam opener

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: December 28, 2021

By Kenny Varner

SPRING MILLS – Two familiar faces met up Tuesday night as Penns Valley high school sponsored the Ram Winter Jam basketball tournament.

Opening the tournament up was two Mountain League Foes in Bellefonte and Penns Valley.

Despite a strong opening quarter by the Rams, the Raiders would warm up in the second and fended off Penns Valley in numerous runs.

In the end, Bellefonte’s three ball was too much for the Rams as the Raiders took home the 48-37 victory.

Three Raiders finished as high scorers on the night. D’ Andre McCaslin, Ty Kroell and Nick Way all finished with 13-point efforts.

Penns Valley’s Zach Braucht was the game-high scorer with 21 points in a losing effort.

In the first, Penns Valley came out firing taking an early 12-5 first period.

Leading the way was Brought with six.

Way kept the Raiders in it early, posting five, hitting a buzzer beating triple to end the first quarter scoring.

After a quick Jumper by Braught making it a 14-5 lead, the Raiders came firing back on all cylinders.

With a run of 15-7, Bellefonte came roaring back to take the lead as the game crept into the intermission.

The threes came alive for Bellefonte in the period as the team combined to hit four, giving them a 20-25 advantage in the quarter.

Defensively, both teams shut down their opponents offense by an 8-5 Bellefonte advantage.

Going into the final stanza, the Raiders added to its lead, 33-25.

Despite of a strong in the paint presence by Braught, the Penns Valley offense could not find the openings it needed to make the comeback, falling by 11 when the final buzzer went off.

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← Previous Story SPRING MILLS- Saving the best for last! The competition was tough when four teams got together Tuesday night for the Penns Valley Ram Winter Jam Tournament. Penns Valley, Bellefonte, Hamburg and Juniata all participated in highly competitive competitions. In their opening game against Hamburg, things looked bad for the Juniata Indians trailing late into the final stanza. However, the Indians went on a tear reeling off 19 points while holding the Eagles to 11 in the period, sending the game into an overtime period tied at 45. The Indians made the most out of its new life and continued to take it right at the heart of the Hamburg defense. GG Ortiz got the stanza off and running on a strong note going to the line and hitting two of two. On the next Hamburg possession, Caleb Smith stole the ball and put the ball back in the Indians hands. After taking some time off the clock by working the ball around, Jacob Condo found Austin Derr open on the weak side. Derr hit the uncontested inside shot upping the lead to 49-45. Juniata came up with a clutch rebound on the Eagles not jaunt down the court. Max Lauver battled his way up for the rebound and quickly got the ball back into Ortiz’s hands. Ortiz did the rest as he went strong at the hoop and was fouled hard on the way up. The Indians got the rebound off the extra free throw by Ortiz and found Derr again open underneath, upping its lead to a comfortable 53-45 advantage with 2:00 left. However, a bucket by Hamburg made it a 6-point lead. But that would be as close as the Eagles would get as Juniata rolled off a 6-1 run to end the contest and winning them a berth in the Ram Winter Jam championship game. Leading the way for Juniata was Derr with 14. Teammate Ortiz had 12 finishing up the double-digit scorers.

Next Story → Bellefonte heats up in second half to clinch Winter Jam title over tough Juniata team

Bellefonte 3-point game outlasts Penns Valley in Winter Jam opener

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About Kenny Varner Jr.

Bellefonte 3-point game outlasts Penns Valley in Winter Jam opener

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About Kenny Varner Jr.