Bellefonte boys cruise past Philipsburg-Osceola in a rout
- TIM WEIGHT/For The Express A Bellefonte player goes for a layup during Monday’s game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Bellefonte on Monday. The Raiders won in a rout, 55-22.
- TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Philipsburg-Osceola players defend as Bellefonte drives to the basket during Monday’s game in Bellefonte.
- TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bellefonte competes against Philipsburg-Osceola at home on Monday.
- TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bellefonte competes against Philipsburg-Osceola at home on Monday.

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express A Bellefonte player goes for a layup during Monday’s game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Bellefonte on Monday. The Raiders won in a rout, 55-22.
BELLEFONTE — After an impressive overtime win last Friday, the Bellefonte boys basketball team continued the momentum into their Monday contest against a young Philipsburg-Osceola team in a Laurel Highlands showdown. The Raiders sizzled during this contest defeating the Mounties 55-22 in a mercy rule contest.
Liam Halterman once again paced the Raiders as he collected a double-double, posting an 18-point, 10-rebound performance. He also finished with five steals as well.
Bellefonte out rebounded Philipsburg-Osceola 29-20. Ryder Hamilton followed up Halterman’s effort with a 10 point performance of his own.Tanner Ebeling’s just missed double-digit scoring with nine.
It would be a game that Bellefonte saw all their players get some valuable playing time.
Philipsburg-Osceola was led by Zack Meyers who finished with five points. He also finished with 10 rebounds despite the loss.

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Philipsburg-Osceola players defend as Bellefonte drives to the basket during Monday’s game in Bellefonte.
Teammates Logan Peterson, Robert McClanahan and Sam Vesneskey all finished with three.
“I’m happy for the kids. We struggled on and off all year long,” said Bellefonte coach Rick Hall. “They came out and played well. We shot the ball better from the perimeter than we done in the last couple of games. I don’t care what level of team is, when you hold a team to five at the half. I was pretty pleased with our defense.”
Bellefonte’s offense got off to a blistering start.
Halterman got things started as he was able to hit two consecutive runners in the lane to take a quick 4-0 advantage.
Defensively, the Raiders were glued to their defenders forcing turnover after turnover.

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bellefonte competes against Philipsburg-Osceola at home on Monday.
After Haltwrman’s two buckets, it would be teammate John Servant’s turn. After getting a rebound, Servant went up for the shot but was fouled in the process. He hit 1-of-2 from the line.
On the next Bellefonte possession Tanner Ebeling got open from beyond the 3-point line and hit nothing but net for the three pointer and a 8-0 advantage with 5:17 left in the first.
With the Ebeling triple, Philipsburg-Osceola was forced to call a time out. However after the timeout, the Raiders forced another turnover and Hamilton stole a Mounties pass and went up for the lay up.
The Mounties scored their first bucket at the four minute mark. The bucket came from an inside shot by Connor Matier. Halterman put his team up 12-2 on his third basket of the game.
That would lead the Raiders on an 11-0 run to take the first quarter lead at 21-2. In the run, Hamilton highlighted things with a triple of his own. Halterman was the leading scorer in the opening period with eight points.

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bellefonte competes against Philipsburg-Osceola at home on Monday.
Things continued to roll for the Bellefonte offense as they picked up where they left off. The Raiders opened the second going on a 10-0 run. Brennon Huntsinger had four points in the run. The Raiders defense did their part allowing only three points in the quarter.
When the two teams went into the intermission, Bellefonte held a comfortable 33-5 advantage. In the second, the Raiders continued its dominating play as their bench players had some playing time as the quality of play remained the same.
Playing under the mercy rule, Bellefonte outscored the Mounties 17-9 going into the final quarter. In the fourth, the Mounties were able to win the quarter, outscoring Bellefonte 8-5. But the night belonged to the Raiders as they notched their second win in-a-row.
Bellefonte 55, Philipsburg-Osceola 22
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (22)
Luke Peterson 1 1-2 3; Connor Matier 1 0-0 2; Zack Meyers 2 1-2 5; Sam Vesneski 1 0-0 3; Henry Matia 1 0-0 2; Mason Klinger 1 0-0 2; Nick DeSimone 1 0-0 2; Robert McClenahan 1 0-0 3; Aaron Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 2-4 22.
BELLEFONTE (55)
Ryder Hamilton 4 0-0 10; Peyton Vancas 3 0-0 6; Tanner Ebeling 3 2-2 9; John Servant 1 1-2 3; Brennan Huntsinger 2 2-2 7; Liam Halterman 8 2-2 18; Logan Gibson 1 0-0 2; Quinn Eckley-Jones 0 0-0 0; Gracen Coons 0 0-0 0; Carter Shively 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-8 55.
Philipsburg-Osceola 2 3 9 8 — 22
Bellefonte 21 12 17 5 — 55
3-point goals: P-O 2 (McClenahan 1, Vesnesky 1), Bellefonte 4 (Hamitlon 2, Ebeling 1, Huntsinger 1).