P-O’s DeSimone eclipses 1,000-point mark | Centre County Gazette

On this week’s local boys basketball news, Jacob DeSimone of Philipsburg-Osceola scored his 1,000. Career point in a Mounties loss to Huntingdon on Jan. 27, while St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy improved their record to 14-5 with wins over Williamsburg and Newport.

State College kept it going with a 65-40 win over Carlisle, and BEA had a good week with wins over Penns Valley and Northern Cambria. Bellefonte was 1-1 and is at 7-8, and Grace Prep won his 10th game at Meadowbrook Christian on January 30th. Penns Valley ended the week 0-2 and is now at 3-14.

Here’s a quick look at the local boys’ basketball scene:

DESIMONE TRANSLATES MILESTONE

Philipsburg-Osceola senior forward Jacob DeSimone scored his 1,000 on Jan. 27 in a Mountain League home game against Huntingdon. career point.

DeSimone nailed a jumper as time was running out in the third quarter that broke the milestone and brought the Mounties within 6 points of the Bearcats.

Unfortunately for PO, the Mounties failed to make up that deficit in the final eight minutes and eventually fell 57-49 to the Bearcats in a key conference game.

DeSimone, who came in and needed 12 points to surpass 1,000, ended up with 19 points. Nick Johnson added 12 for PO.

The loss hurt as the 7-10 Mounties fended off the 5-11 Bearcats for No. 9 in District 6’s AAA bracket. Nine teams are qualifying for this year’s tournament, and while PO has a solid lead over Huntingdon for last place, PO still has five games left on its regular-season schedule — Bellefonte, Hollidaysburg, Moshannon Valley, River Valley and Penns Valley.

ST. JOSEPH’S IMPROVES TO 14-5

St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy was 2-0 last week and have only fallen in two games since losing to Hallifax on January 10.

Since then, the WolfPack has beaten Line Mountain. Millersburg, Juniata Valley, Juniata, Williamsburg and Newport.

The Newport win was on January 30 in Newport by a score of 58-48 and marked SJCA’s 14th win of the season with just five losses.

Michael Lower scored 18 points for St. Joe’s and Charlie Yartz had 12 as the WolfPack defeated Newport 18-10 on the stretch to claim the win.

Three days earlier, St. Joseph’s had escaped Williamsburg in an exciting 65-64 win over the Pirates after Yartz hit a 9-foot jumper with six seconds left to win the game.

The game was tight throughout, with four lead changes in the last two minutes alone.

WolfPack forward Spencer Gigante, going into crunch time and dropping a point, gave SJCA a 1-point lead with an underhand layup with 50 seconds left.

But Williamsburg responded, scoring a goal and regaining a one-point lead with 20 seconds left.

Then, with play on the line and no time-outs, the WolfPack raced onto the court and brought the ball to their leader and season-leading scorer at the baseline just as time was about to run out.

Yartz didn’t miss out and SJCA celebrated their 13th win of the season.

Lower scored 21 points in the game for the WolfPack, with Gigante adding 15 and Yartz adding 14.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” said St. Joseph’s head coach John Straub, “with many lead changes and excellent play by both teams.

“I’m proud of our staying power after dropping 7 points towards the end of the third quarter,” he said. “We have to work hard and keep improving every day as we go into the stretch run of our season.”
The win also kept SJCA, now ranked No. 3 in the District 6 A bracket, ahead of No. 4 Williamsburg. Eight teams qualify for the tournament, with the top four getting at least one home game in the first round.

Possible opponents in the first round are currently Juniata Valley, Bishop McCort, Conemaugh Valley, Penns Manor and Bishop Carroll.

SC STRIPS PAST CARLISLE

Braeden Shrewsberry has been the workhorse and top scorer for the State College Little Lions all season, but he didn’t have a particularly scoring night at home against Carlisle on January 27.

No problem. The Lions showed their depth as Ryan Perks and Isaac Dye both rose and SC still ran 65-40 over the Thundering Herd.

Dye had 23 points overall in the game and Perks had 19 as State College took a 34-19 halftime lead that grew to 59-36 by the end of the third quarter.

Dye only had a single 2-point field goal in the game (he only attempted two), but he threw in seven 3-point goals as the Little Lions totaled 13 that night.

Perks also had 3, and the team shot 50% overall, 22-44, from the field.

It was State College’s 16th win of the season and put the Lions a half-game ahead of arch-rivals Cumberland Valley in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Conference standings.

It also kept SC in first place in District 6’s AAAAAA rankings, ahead of Altoona and Mifflin County.

The Little Lions now have three games left in their regular season: in Chambersburg, at CD East and at home to Cumberland Valley.

BEA BEATS PENNS VALLEY, NORTH CAMBRIA

Bald Eagle Area got defensive in their two wins last week.

On January 27, the Bald Eagles overtook Mountain League rivals Penns Valley, 44-38, and on January 30 they held Northern Cambria to under 30 points in a 44-28 win.

Against PV, BEA went into the fourth quarter with 1 point, 30-29 and then beat the Rams 14-7 to earn their ninth win of the season.

Chase Thompson led the load for BEA with 18 points while Tyler Serb added 11.

Then against Northern Cambria, the Eagles kept the Colts under 10 points in every quarter except the fourth when they slowly retreated to their 10th win of the season.

The result was close early on, but BEA took a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes, sealing the 44-28 win.

The Serb led the Eagles by 11 points, with Thompson, Cam Watkins and Blaze Angellotti each adding 8 points.

BEA is now #4 in District 6’s AAA ranking, just ahead of Westmont-Hilltop. Nine teams qualify in this group, with the top four likely to have a home game in the first round.

That increases the importance of the three remaining games on the Eagles’ schedule — Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon and Jersey Shore — as they try to hold on to that No. 3 position.

BELLEFONTE WAS RANKED FOURTH IN THE DISTRICT

After a 59-54 win over Loyalsock Township on Jan. 23 and a 50-56 loss to Hollidaysburg on Jan. 27, the Bellefonte Red Raiders currently sit 4th in the District 6 AAAAA league, just ahead of and behind Shikellamy #3 Holidaysburg.
The Raiders, now 7-8, still have time and opportunity to cement a playoff position. Her remaining schedule includes games at Clearfield, vs. PO, at Tyrone, at SHS at Sunbury, vs. Juniata, vs. DuBois and at Jersey Shore.