BELLEFONTE — With the game knotted at 20 at halftime, Bellefonte boys basketball head coach Rick Hall wasn’t exactly thrilled with what he was seeing from his squad.
“We really didn’t move the ball as much as I wanted to in the first half,” Hall said. “But we made a couple of adjustments in our offense in the second half. We tried to take away their threes and their corner shots. We made those adjustments. Once they started missing, we were able to run with the ball.”
The Red Raiders went on a 12-2 run to start the second half en route to a 62-45 victory over Clearfield at Bellefonte Area High School on Dec. 11.
It was the first win of the season for the Red Raiders, who improved to 1-3.
“I’m happy for the kids. They busted their butts the first three games and we lost two of the three games by a total of 6 points — one by 5, one by 1 — and we missed a total of 34 foul shots in those two games. These guys are very capable of being 3-1 at this time. It’s good to bounce back,” Hall said.
For Clearfield, it was another messy outing. The Bison made a plethora of mistakes in the second half, which proved to be their undoing.
They got the ball to start the second half and promptly double dribbled, turning it over to Bellefonte. The Red Raiders capitalized with an Ethan Tomasacci 3-pointer. Just like that, the Red Raiders were off and running.
Clearfield head coach Nate Glunt gave Bellefonte credit for its play in the second half.
“They had very good ball movement and people moving in the second half,” Glunt said after watching his squad fall to 0-4. “They really didn’t penetrate that much, but they executed their offense with their screening. They got open shots. Rick does a good job and I knew they’d make adjustments at halftime.”
Following the Tomasacci trey, Bellefonte was able to spread the scoring around as Jacob McConnell, Ryder Hamilton and Peyton Vancas scored during the spurt.
The Red Raiders were up 32-22 when Glunt took a timeout at with 4:22 left in the third quarter to stop the bleeding.
“We were pushing the ball up the floor and we went from taking the good shot to the great shot. I’ve been trying to get that for the last three games. I think they’re starting to feel it. If someone is flying at you, someone else has to be open. I was really pleased with the 3-point shooting and also the passing,” Hall said.
The 10-point deficit was simply too much for the Bison to overcome. Glunt’s scrappy squad cut the deficit to 6 points when Braison Patrick completed a 3-point play with 7:31 left in the game, but Bellefonte’s Derek Cox hit a 3-pointer and followed that with a steal and lay-in as the Red Raiders pulled away, 44-33.
The Red Raiders did an excellent job spreading the scoring around. Cox led the Red Raiders with 16, while Hamilton, McConnell and Jacob Corman each had 11.
Corman had a nice second half, scoring 9 of his 11 over the final 16 minutes.
“Their big guy (Corman) is a really good player. He was able to be wide. He controlled the paint with his touches and his rebounds. That was the difference,” Glunt said.
Hall agreed.
“When we started pounding the ball into Jake Corman, that opened things up. They had to collapse on him and he had some great moves in there,” Hall said. “I thought he had a great game.”
Clearfield landed two players — Patrick (23 points) and Evett Maines (14) — in double figures.
Bellefonte outscored Clearfield, 42-25, in the second half. Hall is hopeful that the Red Raiders can build on the win.
“I really think so. We just needed confidence in shooting and with the offense,” Hall said. “I think we can definitely build on this.”
