On Monday, Dec. 29, State College hosted the Holiday Hardwood Basketball Tournament for both the boys and girls teams. Following the boys’ path, their first matchup was against Meadville. The winner of that game would play against Lower Merion, who had destroyed St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy earlier that day.
The game, set to begin at 5:30, was delayed for over an hour, as the Meadville bus got stuck behind a car crash on the way to the game. As fans and players sat waiting, Meadville had arrived around 6:30, then the game tipped off at 7:00.
State College got off to a hot start, with junior Nick Carr leading the charge with two consecutive three-pointers and nine total points in the first quarter.
Carr described how the hot start affected his play throughout the game. “It gets me just wanting to keep shooting, gets my confidence up,” Carr said.
Going into the second quarter, the Little Lions led by five, 18-13.
Meadville hadn’t had much going offensively, but was taking advantage of the free throw opportunities. State College had multiple shooting fouls, which kept the Bulldogs close.
Head Coach Brian Scholly rallied the troops, however, as State College cut down on the fouls and won the physical battle at the rim. Junior Connor Baldwin had also gotten the crowd involved with an amazing rebound and score in the middle of the quarter.
Going into halftime, the Little Lions were beating the Bulldogs 35-24.
As the game went on, the game got more and more physical and intense. Fouls had been a huge factor in this game, and they were getting called often.
Carr and sophomore Micah James were leading the charge with strong offensive play, including James’ incredible poster dunk to electrify the crowd and players, and completely shift momentum towards State College.
Senior Parker Thurley had two three pointers in this game and spoke on those electric moments. “Obviously you’re playing hard. You’re gonna get tired at some point. Those moments help give that little bit more that you need to finish the game out,” he said.
The team carried their momentum into the fourth quarter, and Meadville got within five points, but the game ended 71-60 in favor of State College.
State College looked ahead to playing Lower Merion the following day. “They’re definitely a big team. We’re watching them play St Joe’s. They look pretty good, but I feel confident against anybody, really. So yeah, it’s always fun playing,” Thurley said.
State College had eight players with points in this game, spreading the ball around and looking to do the same against Lower Merion.
“I think I helped out the team by just expanding the floor. A lot of those guys were looking at me when I was driving, so it helped get the other guys open,” Carr said.
The Little Lions tipped off against the Aces at 1:00 on Dec. 30. State College kept it close, as they ended every quarter within three points, but they couldn’t come out on top, with a tough loss with a final score of 59-53 to claim second place in the tournament.
Over winter break, the Little Lions also had two huge wins against Chambersburg and Williamsport, and are back in action at 7:30 on Jan. 12, when Altoona comes to town.
