Bellefonte girls battle Bearcats tough; falls in OT

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: January 15, 2019

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – It was a barnburner.

It wasn’t a night for the faint of heart Monday night at the Bellefonte high school gym as the Red Raiders’ girls basketball team took Huntingdon to an overtime in a contest that wouldn’t be decided until the final buzzer.

In the end, the Bearcats would come out of the Mountain League battle with the win, 58-56 in overtime.

Leading the way for the Red Raiders was Sara DeHaas who posted a 16-point, 10- rebound and five block evening.

Teammate Maddie Steiner was strong in the inside post ups, finishing with 15.

Rounding out the double-digit figures with a double-double evening. She finished with 12 points and 12 boards. She also hit three triples on the night.

Huntingdon was led by Kait McElroy with 22.

Also posting double figures for the Bearcats was Kynnedy Miller with 17 points.

“We had some decisions towards the end. We took some bad shots, we forced some things we didn’t need to force. We fell behind by nine early. We then were done by eight and then had an 8-0 run to tie the game at the half,” said Bellefonte coach Adam Gearhart said. “We had a few leads in the second half and just couldn’t hold them.”

After a first quarter that saw the Lady Bearcats outscore the Lady Raiders 18-9, things started to chance from the beginning of the second quarter.

Mallorie Smith, who finished with nine, hit a triple and then a runner in the lane on consecutive possessions, cutting it to 18-14.

Tice hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, cutting it to a 3-point Huntingdon lead.

Back battled the Lady Cats when Mcelroy stepped behind the three-point line and hit a triple, upping it back to a 6-point advantage. Miller increased the lead on a runner in the lane, making it 23-15.

But like the entire game, Bellefonte battled its way back in it .

Leading the charge was Steiner as she was fearless taking the ball to the hole. With the runner, Bellefonte cut things to five.

The Lady Raiders would finish the half going on a 9-3 run, tying it at 26.

In the third, Bellefonte rose the momentum from the second quarter and came out battling once again, DeHaas gave her team the first lead of the game as she hit a jumper at the 7-minute mark.

Huntingdon would tie it up as McElroy would abandon the triple and head straight for a shot in the lane.

Tice would give her team another triple, upping the Bellefonte lead again to 31-28.

The two would battle throughout the rest of the quarter but thanks to a 6-0 run to end the third, Bellefonte led 35-30.

However, McElroy and the Bearcats would heat up in the final stanza, outscoring Bellefonte 16-11, sending the game into an extra period.

But the game would comedown to free throws as Huntingdon scores all seven points at the charity stripe.

Bellefonte was only able to manage three free throws and a field goal by DeHaas.

With 24.5 ticks left on the clock, Allie Troup hit both free throws, giving the Red Raiders just one shot to make it a tie or a win.

With two ticks left, Smith attempted a shot from just beyond the arc but it was partially blocked on the play, sealing the win for the visitors.

But the Bellefonte fans left knowing that their team left everything on the court.