Bellefonte boys almost upsets CM
LOCK HAVEN – They almost pulled it off.
After finding themselves trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, the Bellefonte boys basketball team rallied in the second half to take a 44-42 advantage with less than three minutes left.
However, the Wildcats had enough wind in their sails to take back the lead late, outscoring the Red Raiders 5-0 down the stretch to pull out the 47-44 first round win in the opening night of the District 6 post season.
Going into the second half, the Wildcats led 28-16.
Justin Neff led off the third quarter with a strong lay in in the middle of the Bellefonte defense to up his team’s lead to 30-16.
But the Red Raiders started to edge their way back in when Ben McCartney hit a triple to cut the lead to just 11.
After a bucket by the Wildcats Chris Persiko,Bellefonte scored the next six points thanks to two triples by Nathan Tice to put the Red Raiders into striking distance at 32-25 with 5:07 left in the period.
Neff ended the 6-0 run with a lay in at the four minute mark.
Bellefonte retaliated with another run, this time it was a 5-0 run, cutting things to a 34-30. In that run, the Red Raiders got a triple from McCartney.
Central Mountain outscored Bellefonte 3-2 in the final minutes of the quarter to take a 39-35 lead going into the final stanza.
Things started out well for the Raiders in the fourth with two consecutive drives in the middle by Cade Fortney, tying the game for the first time since the game started.
The Wildcats battled back with clutch points from Neff and Brody Baker, taking back the lead at 43-39 with 5:45 left.
Like it did for much of the second half, Bellefonte got hot once again as Tice hit a jumper and yet another triple, giving the visitors the 44-42.
Just when they thought the tide turned Baker set up and his nothing but net with a three, taking the 45-44 advantage.
Another late basket proved to be too much for the Red Raiders to come back from as the Wildcats held on for the victory.
With the win, Central Mountain improved to 15-8 on the season while Bellefonte finished at 11-12.