Red Raider boys make reservation for D6 title tilt; drops Hollidaysburg in OT

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: February 20, 2019

BELLEFONTE – And then there was one.

After a hard fought 46-34 overtime victory over Hollidaysburg Tuesday, the Bellefonte boys basketball team advances to the District 6 5A championship to meet Greater Johnstown.

It took a total team effort Tuesday as numerous Red Raiders players came up big when asked to.

“I am just so proud of the boys. What an outstanding game. Just look at the score,” Bellefonte coach Kris Glunt said. “We went into overtime. We held them to three. Our guys just did an outstanding job. We held their best player in check.”

Leading the way offensively was Caleb Rockey as he was a strong force down under and on the boards, finishing with a 20-point, eight rebound game. He also went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Teammate Noah Badger got six of his 13 points in the overtime period as he scored on difficult shots down below. He also finished with seven rebounds.

Nate Tice got his points the hard way, posting a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.

The unsung hero of the game for the “Red and Black Attack” was Ben McCartney. What the stats won’t show is his three straight tough rebounds to take a close game and lead the offense when it needed a shot in the arm.

With a 31-all tie going into the overtime period, Bellefonte took the tip and got the ball underneath and right to Badger for the bucket.

The Tigers’ Sam Servello put his team ahead by one, sending a picture perfect triple, making it 34-33 with 3:09 left.

From there the Red Raiders, who were feeding off their fans and each other’s on court accomplishments started to heat up.

Rockey’s Attack of the heart of the Golden Tiger defense gave Bellefonte back the lead.

From there, the Red Raiders’ defense took over.

From there Hollidaysburg went for back-to-back turnovers to give Badger two more hard buckets in the paint, upping it to 39-34.

The buckets caused the Tigers a time out with 1:37 left.

Despite being called for a back court violation, Bellefonte refused to let that stop its momentum.

McCartney grabbed consecutive rebounds on consecutive Tigers’ trips to help the Red Raiders to add to the lead at 40-34.

Hollidaysburg went stone cold in the period, posting another missed baskets while Bellefonte got possession.

As Hollidaysburg went into crisis mode, Bellefonte cleaned up on the free throw line, going 6-for-6 the rest of the way to hold onto the win and schedule their trip to Penn State Altoona, Monday.

Going into fourth period, Hollidaysburg held a slight 26-23 advantage.

Badger got 1-of-2 from the line, making it a 2-point game.

With the lead, Golden Tigers tried to play to run down the clock and early on it was successful.

After taking three minutes off the clock, the Tigers got a clutch jumper by leading scorer Jaden Delerme. Delerme finished with a team-high 14.

Bellefonte called a time out to regroup and it was successful.

They decided to go on a full court press and it got the the Tigers as they got the ball back and cut it to two again.

This time it would be Rockey that cut things to two as he went 2-for-2 from the line after being hacked.

After a Tigers’ turnover, Rockey again went 2-for-2 to tie the game with 3:04 left in regulation.

A steal by McCartney gave the ball back to the Red Raiders. He sent the ball down court, giving the call to Rockey and he layed it in, making it 30-28.

Rockey added a foul shot a minute later, making it a 3-point game with time running out.

With 1:44, the Golden Tigers called a time out and then got the ball to Servello. Servello hit nothing but net on his three attempt, tying it at 31.

From there the Red Raiders turned over the ball.

From there, Hollidaysburg tried to hold for the last shot and did just that.

However, their 3-point shot missed and sent the game into an extra period.

After falling behind 8-6 after one, Bellefonte shakes off their nervousness and outscored Hollidaysburg in the second 13-6.

When the two went into the intermission,the Red Raiders led 19-14.

Monday is the big day for the Red Raiders as they will meet for all the marbles against Greater Johnstown with the game being held at Penn State Altoona.