Bellefonte holds off Central Mountain

By rscaife
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: January 26, 2017

BELLEFONTE – Two teams with different goals.
One team playing for a chance for a playoff spot and one for respectability and improvement matched up Wednesday night as Central Mountain, playing in back-to-back games, traveled to Bellefonte.
Both teams showed their talents before the final buzzer.
The Lady Raiders dominated in the first half, taking a 24-3 lead into the intermission.
But the Wildcats came out in the third quarter and was able to cut the Lady Raider lead to 11 going into the final stanza.
However,Bellefonte’s defense was able to step it up once again and finished the game as 43-21 victors.
“We are still struggling to make layups. We missed more than 10 layups in that first half and we were still up by 21 points. If we make half of those were up to 34-3 going into the half. We also struggled from the foul line,” Bellefonte coach Adam Gearhart said. “It looks like a big win but there’s a lot of things we have to work on and fix up.”
Offensively, the Red Raiders were led by Mallorie Smith’s 18-point effort. Teammate Lauren Young just missed a double hitting nine points to go along with 11 boards.
But what might have been overlooked in the contest was Abbie Carr’s rare double-double as she posted 11 blocks and 20 rebounds to help maintain the lead for much of the game.
Averie Pringle led the second half offensive charge with a 14-point hard fought effort.
Going into the third quarter, things looked grim for the Lady Cats as they came out onto the floor.
But something was different, there was a new found energy the team came out with, much to the delight of coach Terrence Green.
“We are coming off a close game last night where are Jv’s went into double overtime and our varsity team had a heckuva comeback last night. They were very tired. I won’t lie to you, and it showed the first quarter that we were gassed. We reconnected ourselves in the second half and we came out on fire and we were able to get the lead cut to nine points,” Green said. “We were right where we wanted to be but I think finally that tiredness came out not fourth-quarter and that’s fine. I told the girls that it’s tough playing a back to back games. They’ve been busting their butts the last few nights. I applaud them on their effort and hustle.”
Pringle opened the second half strong hitting 2-of-2 from the charity stripe after taking it to the heart of the defense.
She scored just seconds later when she collected an offensive rebound and put back, making it 24-8.
A jumper by Abbi Bruni interrupted the run but the Lady Cats bounced right back.
Trailing 26-8, Pringle hit one from beyond the three-point line, cutting it to 26-11.
After a Bellefonte turnover, Pringle went back to the middle and was fouled once again and like the first time she was perfect from the foul line.
Bellefonte was able to extend its lead back momentarily thanks to a 2-foul shot effort by Young.
But Central Mountain would have the last day on the period as Pringle again hit from the line.
A minute later, teammate Talyn Fletcher got into the scoring action, hitting a soft jumper, erasing the lead to 28-17.
Pringle, with time running out, was again perfect from the charity stripe to run the Lady Raiders’ advantage to single-digits, 28-19.
However, Bellefonte ended the period scoring thanks to a drive by Raisa Gregor, 30-19.
From there, the Lady Raiders put a strangle hold on the game, allowing just two points in the final stanza while its offense went off for 13, ending the contest as 43-21 winners.
In the JV game, the Lady Raiders were also successful, winning a 44-37 win.