Eckley-Jones helps Bellefonte rally to top MIfflin County in Non League battle

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: March 2, 2021

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE -It was a battle between two five win teams Tuesday night when the MIfflin County Huskies traveled to battle Bellefonte.

Despite an early first half lead by the Huskies, the Red Raiders, led by offensive force Blair Eckley-Jones, Bellefonte was able to rally back in the second half, taking the 61-48 victory.

Eckley-Jones kept the Red Raiders in the game early on scoring 15 of his teams 24 points in the first half. He finished with a game-high 20 points.

Ty Kroell finished with 17 points, 12 of them came from the foul line in the final stanza.

Rounding out the Bellefonte high scorers was Nick Way with 16.

MIfflin County was led by Cade Penepacker’s 16-point effort while Ty Felmlee finished with 10.

Owen Wise just missed double digits with nine points.

Early on it was all MIfflin County.

as the Huskies started strong.

Cole Knable hit an inside shot to start the game scoring at 6:30.

Penepacker added two free throws after forcing the Red Raiders into a turnover.

Felmlee made it a 7-0 contest after stepping behind the three-point line and hitting nothing but net.

Eckley-Reed brought his team back into the contest after two consecutive baskets with 3:17 left in the first.

Felmlee interrupted the run as he hit a long two with 2:48.

But the Red Raiders went back inside and went to Eckley-Jones for the inside bucket, cutting it to a 9-6 deficit.

However, the rest of the quarter belonged to MIfflin County as they finished on a 9-0 run. The run was highlighted by a buzzer beating Trey by Felmlee, making it an 18-6 lead.

Going into the second, the Red Raiders started to mount a comeback.

After two Husky free throws, Eckley-Jones went right back to work roping s triple and hitting two free throws in consecutive trips down court.

Penepacker broke the 4-0 run by Eckley-Jones as he hit a shot from down low, making it a 22-11 advantage.

Putting his nose back to the grindstone, Eckley again went on his third 4-0 run again making it 22-15 MIfflin County advantage.

Bellefonte rounded out the scoring on buckets by way and Gannon Brungard, ending the first half scoring at 22-19 with MIfflin County still holding the edge.

Coming out of the intermission, the Red Raiders came out firing, Way hit a triple and then hit a lay up thanks to an assist by Eckley-Jones. The two buckets would give the Red Raiders their first lead of the game.

Offensively, Bellefonte kept moving forward on back-to-back triples by Kroell and Eckley-Reed, increasing the lead to 30-22.

When the third quarter ended, the Red Raiders led 37-31.

MIfflin County would cut it to three points before Bellefonte would outlast MIfflin County with a 61-48 decision.