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Bald Eagles hang on for 39-38 victory over St. Joe’s

WINGATE — Leading 38-35 Monday night, Bald Eagle’s Alexis Bucha walked to the free throw line to help ice her team’s chances for a victory in what would be the two most important shots of the game.

She was successful in hitting one-of-two which proved to be vital as the St. Joseph’s Denaya Poston-Cooper would hit a desperation triple with one second remaining, cutting it to a one-point game.

The Eagles were able to run out the clock on an inbounds, sending the Eagles to a 39-38 hard fought victory.

Bald Eagle Area got a total team effort as four players finished with six points on the night.

But it would be Bald Eagle’s leading scorer Rachel Veneziano who netted an eight-point effort along with two rebounds.

St. Joseph was led by the strong inside presence of center Selena Mann. Mann finished her night with a game-high 14 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double.

Poston-Cooper chopped in with a 12-point, six-rebound effort.

“I’m very proud of those kids tonight. They really got after it. I think throughout the season our defense has continued get better and we are continuing to get better,” Bald Eagle coach Darin Hazel said. “They did a great job of following the game plan. The Mann girl was super tough and Cooper got going in the second half. They really played tough and followed the game plan but defense hasn’t been the problem. So we’ll continue to build and use this as a positive, and hopefully that will feed over to our offense.”

Offense wasn’t a problem in the opening quarter as the Eagles took the early lead.

But the final stanza had both fans sitting on the edge of their seat.

Going into the quarter, the Eagles held a 31-26 advantage.

Starting off the quarter, the Eagles got the ball and went inside to Sarah Holler who hit a shot in the paint, upping the lead to seven with 7:33.

St. Joesph went into the middle and got it to the Mann. Mann attacked the hoop and cut back into the lead.

The ball went back to Bald Eagle and into the hands of Morgan Chambers.

Chambers, who finished with six, hit a clutch bucket on an offensive rebound, making it a 35-28 advantage.

St. Joseph went into a full court press to get the ball back.

However, the Eagles took the ball down the court and pulled the ball out and went into a time-consuming possession, taking precious minutes off the clock.

After running off the clock, Lacee Barnhart was fouled with just over four minutes left. Barnhart hit one-of-two, extending the lead.

St. Joseph went to Mann on the next two consecutive possessions, cutting it to 36-32 with 3:13 left.

With the possession, the Eagles continued to take time off the clock and dipped the clock to under two minutes.

Barnhart pulled down a clutch rebound, thwarting a Wolves’ chance to cut it closer. She was also fouled after, sending her to the line.

In a one-on-one opportunity, Barnhart’s shot hit the rim and bounced out.

Mann went right to work after pulling down the rebound on the defensive end. She went for a lay up and was fouled in the process. The center put her team one point closer, hitting one-of-two, 36-33.

As the clock got down to 30 seconds, Bucha hit 2-of-2 from her first visit of the quarter to the charity stripe, upping the score to 38-35.

With one more stop at the free throw, Bucha added an insurance shot, making it 39-35.

Poston- Cooper went at the right portion of the Eagles end and threw up a desperation triple and it went in, making it a 39-38.

From there, the Eagles held on for the victory.

Bald Eagle Area took an 11-6 advantage going into the second period.

They would continue to take control as they would take a 19-11 lead going into the intermission.

Bald Eagle Area will be back in action as it will go head-to-head with rival Bellefonte.

Bald Eagle Area 39,

St. Joseph 38

STJ 6 5 15 12 – 38

BEA 13 6 12 8 – 39

Scoring: St. Joseph – Kathleen 1 0-1 3, Bryn Hershbine 1 0-0 2, Denaya Poston- Cooper 5 1-2 12, Maggie Mangene 3 0-0 7, Selena Mann 5 4-9 14. Total – 15 5-12 38. Bald Eagle Area – Lacee Barnhart 2 1-3 6, Mariah Veneziano 3 0-2 6, Rachel Veneziano 4 0-0 8, Sarah Holler 3 0-0 6, Morgan Chambers 3 0-1 6, Madison Watkins 1 0-5 2, Alexis Bucha 1 3-4 5. Totals -17 4-15 39.

Played but didn’t score: St. Joseph- Clair Marsh 0 0-0 0, Maggie Scott 0 0-0 0. Lexi Skripek 0 0-0 0.

Three-point shots: St.Joseph – Simander, Cooper, Mangene. Bald Eagle Area – Barnhart.

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