Bellefonte girls finish as D6 runner ups

By rscaife
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Updated: February 26, 2017

MOUNT ALOYSIUS – After a strong victory against DuBois in the opening round of the District 6 5A girls basketball play offs, the third seeded Bellefonte girls showed the number one seeded Obama Academy what they were made of before falling late to the Lady Eagles 42-30 in the D6 title game Saturday night at Mt. Aloysius College.
During a season of sporting a young team, Coach Adam Gearhart had his Lady Raiders playing their basketball at the end of the season that will pose a plus in next year’s season.
For the first half of the game, the “Red and Black Attack” looked unphased at the team from the Pittsburgh area, taking the halftime lead at 20-19.
Going into the final period, the Red Raiders were still in it and battling all the way, trailing only by three, 29-26.
For the entire game, the Bellefonte defense was strong and swarming causing numerous Lady Eagles turnovers and unbalanced shots.
When Obama went for the inside shots, Abbie Carr was there to swat away and force bad shots. She finished with over four blocks on the night.
Obama was led by the strong inside shooting and foul shooting of Michaela Porter with 22 points.
Bellefonte’s scoring was a total team effort.
The Raiders were led by the 10-point effort of senior Raisa Gregor.
Trailing 11-7 going into the second quarter, Bellefonte played its biggest period of the season as it outscored Obama 13-8.
Carr made the most of her first two possessions of the quarter as she a bucket and dished an assist to Stephanie Catalano, tying the game at 11.
After a turnover by the Lady Eagles, Bellefonte got the ball into the hands of Abby Bruni who took the ball to the hole and was fouled in the process. She hit one-of-two from the line to take the team’s first led at 12-11.
On the next possession, the Lady Raiders defense forced another Obama miscue as they got the ball back up the court and to Lauren Young inside and up for the bucket and 3-point lead.
However, Obama battled back to make it a one-point lead thanks to foul shooting of Taylin Tyler.
Carr put the led back to three on an inside jumper.
Porter kept it close as she went inside herself for the easy jumper with time running out in the half.
But the Lady Raiders held the rest of the quarter, outscoring Obama 4-3.
Despite the loss, the Lady Raiders road through the season was a bumpy one at times but they always continued to learn and get better and finishing as D6 runner ups is a shining moment and a good foundation to lead into next season.