MC boys rally in second half to top Mounties

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: February 20, 2021

Photos by Bob Hockenbrock
By Kenny Varner

LEWISTOWN – Saturday afternoon Centre County met MIfflin County in boys basketball action.

The recently hot MIfflin County team faced off against a tough and gutsy squad from Philipsburg-Osceola team.

It would be the tale of two halves as the Mounties took a nine point lead into the half but the Huskies took the second half, coming back to take the 51-38 victory.

With the win, the Huskies had been winners of two-in-a-row and the fourth on the season.

“This was a good weekend. We were like the NBAers going back-to-back, one on the road and one at home. Last night was another growing experience. Today, PO is really talented in so many ways. The do a lot of good things,” said MIfflin County coach Bob Sealy. “But I told our kids to hang in there. At halftime we’re down nine and hanging around just enough. I told them we need to stop them from scoring. Then we stopped them and scored and then another stop and score. Then we got ahead then we can dictate the pace a little bit and the tempo. You have to be happy for kids like this. We haven’t had a two game streak in I don’t know how long.”

MIfflin County finished the game with three players finishing in double figures.

Leading the way for the Huskies was Ty Felmlee with 12.

Teammates Jayden Jackson and Cade Penepacker finished with an 11- and 10-point effort, respectively.

Cole Knable just missed double digits as he posted nine.

The Mounties got a strong effort from Jake DeSimone who netted 16 points in the loss.

Teammate Jeremy Whitehead rounded out the leading scorers with nine.

“The first half I thought we played well and in the second I thought we played flat. So, we just got to learn to battle through adversity,” said Philipsburg-Osceola coach TJ Anderson. “We have some kids that are sick and aren’t here and our kids have to learn to play through it. This is a growing stage for them.”

Philipsburg-Osceola came out of the intermission holding a 22-13 lead.

But before the period was over as the Mounties chipped away at the lead and took the lead going into the final stanza.

DeSimone started the Mounties out, hitting one-of-two from the foul line to up their lead to 10.

The Huskies battled back going on a mini 4-0 run to cut it to a 6-point deficit.

Jackson went to the hole for the lay in.

On the Huskies next possession, Jackson notched the assist and found Felmlee for the easy put in.

DeSimone spoiled the MIfflin County run as he pasted a triple on the scoreboard, taking the lead back up to nine.

That would be quickly erased on the Huskies’ next possession when Penepacker went to the basket and hit the shot and was fouled on the play. With the successful free throw, MC cut it back down to six.

From the 3:50 – mark of the third to the end, the Huskies tightened its defense and took over the momentum, outscoring the Mounties 12-2.

With the run, MIfflin County took a 32-28 edge going into the fourth.

With all the momentum in the hands of the Huskies, the offense continued to sizzle to take a 19-6 scoring run in the final eight minutes to give the home fans a victory.

But things started out slow for MIfflin County as the Philipsburg-Osceola team came out strong, taking the first quarter scoring 9-2.

DeSimone led the scoring with four.

The Mounties continued to hold the momentum into the second half, outscoring MIfflin County 13-11.

But it would be the Huskies that would get hot when it mattered as it took the contest 51-38.