The Red Raiders held Bald Eagle Area scoreless for all eight minutes, a scoring drought that trickled into the fourth and drained any momentum the Eagles had left. Leading scorers Ryder Hamilton and Liam Halterman each hit threes, and the team kicked off the period with seven straight fast-break points and finished it on a 13-0 run, building up a 24-point lead that ultimately translated into a 47-31 win.

“I was very pleased with our defense,” said Bellefonte head coach Rick Hall on the win. “We started in the zone press, really were not getting as many turnovers as I liked. But when we went man-to-man in the third quarter, we turned it around and started getting ball pressure. When we do that defensively, when we get out and run, we’re good.”

Bellefonte’s first four defensive possessions in the third quarter ended in steals. Three resulted in transition buckets, with Halterman opening up the second-half scoring with a transition three off a dish from John Servant and Servant and Grayson Coons taking in two easy, coast-to-coast layups off their respective steals.

Its scoring stalled briefly from there, but its defense out of the halfcourt held firm, forcing tough shot after tough shot from BEA. And whene Hamilton secured the team’s fifth steal of the period, it popped right into the hands of Carter Shivery, who found Hamilton down the court for another seamless layup.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bellefonte's Ryder Hamilton looks to shoot over Bald Eagle's James Cowan during the teams' rivalry matchup at Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday. The Red Raiders won 47-31.

Hamilton would cap the quarter with a trey 30 seconds before the buzzer, another possession that started thanks to a steal. Through the third, the Red Raiders logged six steals, scored 12 points off turnovers and ultimately, broke the game open as a result.

“One word we’ve used this year is ‘scrappy’ We’ve described it as taking every possession 100-percent and I feel that’s one thing we did in this game,” said Hamilton when discussing the team’s defensive success on the night. “We’re scrappy every game, every play and we’re going to work your tail off every time you have the ball.”

Hamilton and Halterman were forces throughout the game on both sides of the court.

When the Eagles got out to a 4-0 lead early thanks to two post baskets from James Cowan, Halterman would get to the line off a feed from Hamilton and knock down both his free throws to put the Red Raiders on the board.

Two defensive possessions later, Halterman secured a steal and quickly found Hamilton down court for a transition layup. That connection occurred again on the next possession, as Hamilton hit a three to give the team its first lead at 7-4. Then, Halterman hit back-to-back layups to up it to 11-6, and the team would never trail again.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bellefonte's Liam Halterman passes it in transition during the team's 47-31 win over Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday.

It’s a connection that’s held consistent throughout the season. And with their teammates like John Servant (10 points, 3 steals) and Grayson Coons (5 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks) getting in on the action and setting up easy shots off steals, it was able to lead the team to a big win over its rival.

Hamilton led the team with 19 and Halterman posted 13, with the latter scoring ten through the first half to help build that initial cushion. And prior to its shutout performance in the third quarter, they helped forefront a similarly prevalent defensive stretch through the first half, holding the Eagles to just 15 points there and six points in the second.

“We forced them into a lot of bad opportunities and capitalized on that,” said Halterman. “I think that’s the mentality going forward. We’re going to press you, make you work to score on us. If you can’t, then you can’t. If you can, we’re just gonna keep fighting back.”

“Ryder and Liam have been doing that all year long,” said Hall on the pair. “What’s going to be key for these guys going down the stretch is other people besides Ryder and Liam picking up performances and scoring a little bit more.”

With the win, Bellefonte earned its third in four games after starting 0-8. Through its first five games of January, it’s posted a 3-2 record and seems to be picking it up at the right time with a decent stretch of games left to go.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bellefonte's John Servant shoots a layup while BEA's Wyatt Spackman defends during the teams' rivalry matchup at Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday. The Red Raiders won 47-31.

It faces a rough one next, taking on 11-1 Westmont Hilltop. But whatever ends up happening there, it expects to continue making progress as it prepares to get into postseason shape.

“The past is in the past,” said Halterman. “The 2024 season is over and the 2025 season has just started. One thing we didn’t do (early) was come out in the second half and do well. But we’re trying to change that, and I think it’s working right now.”

“I’m very proud of the team,” said Hall. “I think they’re getting on a roll right now.”

For Bald Eagle (3-10), James Cowan put on a decent performance in the post to lead the team with 13 and Wyatt Habobick scored eight straight points in the fourth to briefly give the Eagles life after a rough span. Head coach Kris Glunt was proud of the team for holding the Red Raiders to 47 points but hopes to see better offensives performances from it in the coming days.

“Defensively, I was fairly pleased with a lot of the things we did. But offensively, we were out of sorts tonight,” said Glunt. “Quite frankly, I think we assisted them more than we assisted ourselves and it’s just really difficult to win a basketball game that way. It’s a disappointing outcome.”

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area's James Cowan goes up for a shot over Bellefonte's John Servant during the teams' rivalry matchup at Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday. The Red Raiders won 47-31.

They’ve had a rough two-game stretch since starting the New Year 2-1, but the hope is that they can turn it around and bounce back in their upcoming road matchup against Somerset (1-12).

“I think our guys just have to go out there and compete and really try to enjoy the moment,” said Glunt. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on ourselves and when we face a team that likes to pressure us, we seem to not respond particularly well. So, that’s something we’ve just got to keep improving on throughout the season.”

Both teams return to action on Friday.

Bellefonte 47, Bald Eagle Area 31

BELLEFONTE (47)

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area's Wyatt Habovick goes up for a shot between Bellefonte defenders during the teams' rivalry matchup at Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday. The Red Raiders won 47-31.

Ryder Hamilton 7 1-2 19; John Servant 4 1-2 10; Liam Halterman 4 4-4 13; Grayson Coons 2 0-0 5. Totals 13 5-6 47.

BALD EAGLE AREA (31)

Jackson Millward 1 1-2 3; Luke Hosband 1 0-0 2; Kane Wolf 1 0-0 3; James Cowan 6 1-4 13; Wade Habovick 3 0-0 8. Wyatt Spackman 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 2-6 31.

Bellefonte – 12 14 13 8 – 47

Bald Eagle – 9 6 0 16 – 31

Three-pointers: Bellefonte 5 (Hamilton 2, Servant 1, Halterman 1, Coons 1); Bald Eagle Area 3 (Habovick 2, Wolf 1).