Bellefonte ends Seals' season in district semis

Feb. 23—SELINSGROVE — When it comes to playoff basketball, the team that can make adjustments and execute throughout the game often comes out on top.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday night as Bellefonte withstood a second-half rally from Selinsgrove in a Districts 4/6 5A semifinal matchup. The Seals suffered a season-ending 49-38 loss.

"Obviously the ball just kinda didn't go in the basket for us, didn't really go our way," said Selinsgrove coach Justin Keiser. "Felt like maybe some calls didn't go our way, as well, but I'm just super-proud of the effort that we put forward throughout that entire game."

The second-seeded Seals (14-9) struggled with shot-making throughout the game, particularly in a first half when they scored just 11 points. The Red Raiders opened with a 5-0 run, but the Seals closed to within 9-6 by the end of the quarter, with all six points from Blake Haddon.

The Seals stayed with the Red Raiders (13-10) for most of the second quarter, trailing only 13-11 before the final minute of the half. However, Ethan Tomasacci and Jacob McConnell both nailed 3-pointers to put Bellefonte up eight at halftime, 19-11.

The Seals managed to cut the deficit to three early in the second half thanks to five consecutive points by Ries Naugle. He made a 3-pointer and then scored in transition after a steal to make the score 21-18.

From that point on, Red Raiders big man Cole Crissman took over. He converted back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Red Raiders a nine-point lead. Crissman then completed a three-point play and made a floater to increase the lead to 32-18. After only scoring two points in the first half, Crissman had 11 in the third quarter. He led the Red Raiders with 16 points on the night.

"He's definitely special," Keiser said. "(He's) 6-8 or 6-9, athletic, strong, skilled. He's just a really good player, so he definitely had a big impact on the game. Just got to give a lot of credit to him."

Jacob Corman started off the final quarter by scoring four points to give Bellefonte a 15-point lead. However, the Seals weren't done yet as Nathan Cataldi hit a pair of 3-pointers to make it a single-digit game.

In the fourth quarter, the Seals utilized a full-court press, which worked a little to slow the Red Raiders' offense. However, Bellefonte eventually found ways to pass out of the press after Crissman scored on a dunk. A pair of free throws by Luke Fisher put the lead back to 11, but a Haddon 3-pointer cut the margin to eight.

Moments later, Naugle ripped a steal and scored in transition to make it 43-36. However, that was as close as the Seals got as the Red Raiders were in the bonus and used free throws to put the game away.

"A lot of credit to Bellefonte," Keiser said. "Bellefonte is a really good team. We had our spurts in the second half, thinking that we might be able to chip away and get back in it, but unfortunately when you only score 11 points in the first half and when you're playing a team as good as Bellefonte, it's just really tough to finish some of those runs to cut it all the way back to even or close to it."

Naugle led the Seals with a game-high 18 points. Cataldi contributed 11 points with three 3-pointers. Haddon added nine points.

Seven Selinsgrove seniors closed their careers: Cataldi, Haddon, DaRell Scholl, Gabriel Paulhamus, Valentino Barillaro, Spencer George and Tyler Swineford.

"The seniors have had just a massive impact on this program," Keiser said, "Not just this season, but I really believe that their impact on the program is really gonna carry over into next season and into the future, hopefully paving the way for the younger guys to have future success."

Bellefonte advanced to Saturday's subregional final at Mount Aloysius College. The Red Raiders will take on top-seeded Central Mountain, which defeated Hollidaysburg, 49-44, in Wednesday's other semifinal.

"Overall, I really do think it was a great season for us," Keiser said. "Looking at it at the beginning of the season, if you could've said that we would be 14-8 (in the regular season), I would've signed up for it in a heartbeat. Overall, I'm just really proud of these guys, seniors especially, but all the guys for really turning it around after last year.

"Getting to 14 wins, in general, I just think was really good for us, so overall super-proud of the season."

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DISTRICTS 4/6 CLASS 5A BOYS SEMIFINAL

BELLEFONTE 49, SELINSGROVE 38

Bellefonte (13-10) 49

Cole Crissman 6 3-4 16; Alex Ebeling 0 2-2 2; Derek Cox 2 5-6 9; Jacob McConnell 3 0-0 8; Ryder Hamilton 2 0-0 4; Jacob Corman 2 0-0 4; Ethan Tomasacci 1 0-0 3; Luke Fisher 0 2-4 2. Totals 16 12-16 49.

3-point goals: Crissman 2, McConnell 2, Tomasacci.

Did not score: Peyton Vancas, Zane Hummell, John Servant, Dylan Knepp, Liam Halterman, Davis Corman, Brady Wertz.

Selinsgrove (14-9) 38

Ries Naugle 7 3-7 18; Nathan Cataldi 4 0-0 11; Blake Haddon 4 0-0 9. Totals 15 3-7 38.

3-point goals: Cataldi 3, Naugle, Haddon.

Did not score: Luke Piecuch, DaRell Scholl, Gabriel Paulhamus, Gavin Bastian, Valentino Barillaro, Cam Smith, Spencer George, Tyler Swineford.

Score by quarters

Bellefonte;9;10;13;17 — 49

Selinsgrove;6;5;10;17 — 38