Bellefonte takes close contest versus Jersey Shore

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: February 11, 2020

Bellefonte 64, Jersey Shore 51

JS 9 12 24 6 – 51

BE 7 17 18 20 – 64

Scoring: Jersey Shore – Tanner Lorson 1 0-0 3, Nate Ewing 6 1-2 13, Alec Carpenter 3 0-0 8, Trevor Gee 11 2-4 24, Cayden Hess 0 3-4 3. TOTALS 21 6-10 51. Bellefonte – Trae Bauman 1 0-0 2, Isiah Nadolsky 6 3-5 15, Ben McCartney 11 7-9 33, Logan Bernier 3 0-0 6, Shaun Carey 4 0-0 8. Totals 25 10-14 64.

Played but didn’t score: Jersey Shore – Damian Williams 0 0-0 0, Terrance Stetts 0 0-0 0, Tristen Gallick 0 0-0 0. Bellefonte – Mason Grey 0 0-0 0, Blair Eckley-Jones 0 0-0 0.

3-point shots: Jersey Shore – Carpenter 2, Lorson. Bellefonte – McCartney 3.

JV Score – Jersey Shore 42, Bellefonte 41.

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – For three quarters

the Bellefonte high School was buzzing with excitement as the Bellefonte boys basketball team and Jersey Shore were battling in a post-season type contest.

But in the final stanza, the Red Raiders pulled ahead thanks to Ben McCartney’s 10 points and the Bulldogs seeing Tanner Lorson foul out. With Lorson out, Bellefonte went onto the 64-51 victory.

“The Ewing (Nate) is as tough as we’ve seen and I thought our defense was really outstanding tonight. We really did a lot of nice things to quiet him,” said Bellefonte coach Kris Glunt. “I was real proud of our guys. It feels like we have taken a step forward. We had a close game against Clearfield the other night and came up a bit short. We’re continuing to climb a bit. That was a really good basketball team we played tonight. I was real proud of how we came out and played very disciplined basketball in the fourth quarter to tie that thing up.”

McCartney lit up the night with a 33-point effort en route to the comeback victory.

Teammate Isiah Nadolsky finished with a double-double, posting a 10-rebound and 15-Point effort.

Jersey Shore was led by Trevor Gee’s 24-point performance while Ewing had 13.

“I thought Tanner Lorson hurt us big time. As soon as he went out it changed the whole demeanor of the game,” said Jersey Shore coach Scott Munro. “Both offensively and defensively we struggled to guard McCartney. We gave up way too much in the fourth quarter to him and our offense really took a hit too with Tanner too because he was doing a good job at penetrating their zone and finding Trevor Gee inside and we did a lot of good things with him on the court. Losing him was a very big blow for us.”

Going into the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders trailed Jersey Shore 45-42.

Logan Bernier brought his team to within one starting off the quarter with an inside shot in the lane.

After forcing a turnover on the Bulldogs first possession, the Red Raiders got thee ball to McCartney on the left side of the three-point line sinking nothing but net, taking the lead back at 47-45 with 7:10 remaining.

The Bellefonte defense tightened the screws on the Jersey Shore offense again and put the ball back in the hands of McCartney. McCartney took it down underneath for the bucket, upping the lead to 49-45.

For the third possession in a row, the Red Raiders again forced the ball back to its offense.

Stepping back behind the three-point line, McCartney hit another three, extending the lead to a 7-point lead at 5:34.

With the bucket, Jersey Shore was forced to call a time out.

Like most teams do, the Bulldogs battled back to get back in the game as they scored on consecutive baskets one by Gee and one from Ewing, cutting it to a 52-49 contest.

Bellefonte called a time out of its own to regroup and try to change the Bulldogs momentum.

The Red Raiders got the ball into Nadolsky this time and scored on consecutive trips down the court, making it a 56-49 contest as the game dropped below the 4-minute mark.

A bucket by Cayden Hess stopped the 4-0 run and put the game to a 5-point margin.

But down the stretch, McCartney took over the scoring for Bellefonte posting the final eight points en route to the victory.

Coming out of the halftime, the Red Raiders led 24-21.

But Jersey Shore heated up on offense, dropping 24 points while Bellefonte was held to 18 points, giving them the lead going into the final stanza.

In the opening period, Jersey Shore held the early advantage, outscoring Bellefonte 9-7.

But the Red Raiders rallied back in the second period posting a 17-7 effort.

In the JV contest, the Bulldogs topped the Red Raiders in the final seconds, 42-41.

Bellefonte will be back in action Wednesday as they battle state-rated Huntingdon while Jersey Shore is back at Tuesday against Southern Columbia.