From Rams Holiday Tournament: Penns Valley boys top Bellefonte

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: January 7, 2015

By Kenny Varner

SPRING MILLS – in the second game of the Penns Valley Rams tournament, the Bellefonte boys took their turn at battling the home team and for much of the game it was a back and forth affair. However, the RAms had just enough left in the tank in the final stanza to take home a convincing 51-39 win, putting them in the championship game Tuesday against a feisty JUniata team that came back from double-digits in its game against Juniata county rival East Juniata. In defeat, Bellefonte got strong performances offensively by Trent Fortney and teammate Bryce Steiner who finished with a 14-point and an 11-point effort, respectively. “Both teams played hard. I thought it was just one of those things you harp on the kids to play hard and they do,” Bellefonte coach Darin Hazel said. “I am a little disappointed about some of the external things that happend and how they let the game get out of hand. I’m not in to that kind of basketball. I am glad my kids kept their composure.” In the first quarter, the bellefonte defense got four points out of Fortney en route to trailing only by one point at 8-7. Both teams continued on the same pace in the second as they both collected nine in the period. When intermission got underway, the Red Raiders still only trailed by one, 17-16. The game started to pull away from bellefonte in the third quarter as the Rams offense started to heat up and outscore the Red Raiders 14-7, making it 30-24 going into the final stanza. Offensively both teams went in opposite direction as the Rams tallied 21 and the Red Raiders tallied just 14. Not enough for a comeback. “I thought our kids played well enough to win,” Hazel said. “We didn’t make foul shots, we didn’t rebound well and it caught up with us in the second half when you don’t get calls. It hurts. I am proud of the kids and how they battled. We just need to keep trying to get better.” Bellefonte will play East Juniata in the consolation round today.