Belleville Mennonite holds off Juniata Christian, 40-36
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By Josh Yoder
Sports reporter
jyoder@lewistownsentinel.com
BELLEVILLE -- Belleville Mennonite held off a late charging Juniata Christian to come out victorious 40-36, in an Allegheny Christian Athletic Association boys basketball game on Monday night.
"It was a little stressful, I did not think we played our best tonight," Thunder coach Chase Peachey said. "We had a great third quarter. But we turned the ball over at least 15 times, we lacked mental focus tonight but I'm happy for my guys they pulled it out there in the end."
After a slow start offensively for both teams during the opening half of the game, the Thunder came out blazing in the third period and began attacking the paint from the baseline for buckets. Quinn Renno really came up big in the frame scoring 11 of the 19 total points scored for Belleville Mennonite during the period.
"We just had better ball movement," Peachey said. "We were making harder cuts, we just came out a little more relaxed."
For most of the third quarter, the Lions continued to struggle to get shots to fall but thanks to the efforts of Alex Meiser who scored seven of the ten points scored in the frame to make it a 31-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But then during the final period, Juniata Christian were able to catch fire again behind the shooting of Meiser who got the offense going hitting a pair of three pointers. The Lions managed to cut the lead down to single digits with just over a minute to play, but it was as close as they were able to get.
"We got caught playing on our heels in the third quarter a little bit," Lions coach Joe Tusing said. "They went on a run and we didn't stop it and that's part of basketball."
Meiser led the Lions with 14 points for the evening while Owen Yorks added another 11 for Juniata Christian.
"Well overall, we didn't shoot the ball well. You can't dig yourself into a hole in the first half and try to come back out of it like that," Tusing said. "We just didn't make buckets. They played hard, kids gave a great effort, we just came up short."
For the Thunder Renno led with a game high of 18 points for the game. Mitchell Kauffman also scored in double digits and collected 10 points.
"Less than par, not near our potential, we can definitely do better, but fortunately still pulled out the win," Renno said.
Belleville Mennonite (2-2) will travel to face Walnut Street Christian today. Meanwhile Juniata Christian (0-5) will be preparing to compete in the Christian School of York basketball tournament that begins on Dec. 27.
Belleville Mennonite 40,
Juniata Christian 36
Juniata Christian 3-8-10-15 -- 36
Belleville Mennonite 7-5-19-9 -- 40
Juniata Christian (36):Clayton Martin 1 2-2 4; Owen Yorks 3 4-8 11; Brent Graybill 1 1-2 3; Jaredyn Hair 2 0-2 4; Alex Meiser 5 1-2 14. Totals: 12 8-12 36.
Belleville Mennonite (40): Mitchell Kauffman 5 0-0 10; Quinn Renno 7 4-8 18; Evan Crosson 2 1-2 5; Clay Ammon 2 1-5 5; Bryson Peachey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 6-15 40.