By Kenny Varner

WINGATE – It was a total team effort Friday night for the Bald Eagle Area boys basketball team as they picked up a Friday night victory over Laurel Highlands foe Moshannon Valley.

The Bald Eagles never trailed in this one, going pillar to post with the lead bringing home the 57-34 victory.

“We did a lot of cool things tonight. I thought they played hard. I think they played good team basketball,” said Bald Eagles coach Kris Glunt. “I thought offensively we executed really well. We liked the pressure. It was the way we wanted it to be tonight.”

Bald Eagle Area man in the middle James Cowan had his inside game working on both offense and defense. Defensively, Cowan pulled down nine boards and four blocks. All the blocks were in the first quarter on the Eagles initial run.

Offensively, Cowan worked his way to a 19-point effort, just missing a double-double by one rebound.

However, teammate Luke Hosband was all over the court making his presence known. Hosband picked up his double-double pulling down 10 rebounds and dropped 16 points on the Knights. He just missed a triple double as he also had seven steals.

From the outside, the Eagles had that taken care of well as they got a 16-point effort from Kane Wolf. Wolf drained four triples on the night.

As a team, Bald Eagle led in the rebound catagory 35-25.

In the first quarter, the Eagles worked from outside in, leading off with a Wolf triple to get the scoring going.

Starting with a full court press, Mo Valley had problems all night with the Eagles trapping game.

The Eagles took the Knights first possession causing a turnover. They found Wolf in transition for the easy lay up, making it a 5-0 advantage.

On the following possession, Cowan was the recipient of a turnover and scored off a rebound, upping the lead 10 7-0, forcing Moshannon Valley to call a time out with 5:56 still left in the first.

Coming out of the time out, the Knights got their first bucket of the game.

Holding a 7-2 lead, the Eagles extended its lead to an eight point advantage when they got their first bucket ball to Wolf from beyond the arc once again. He launched it and hit nothing but net, loosening up the inside lanes for this teammates.

One good shot deserves another.

On the following Mo Valley possession, Jensen Hansel hit his team’s first triple, closing the lead to 10-5.

Seconds later, Hosband got his name in the scorebook as he drove the lane and hit a bucket in traffic.

Another Knights turnover gave the home team the ball. They went inside to Cowan. He did not disappoint hitting a bucket in traffic. He hit the bucket and was fouled in the process of shooting, sending him to the line for an old fashioned three-point play. Though he missed the foul shot, the Eagles continued to muscle their way on both offense and defense.

Trailing 14-5, Kaden Kephart gave his team something to cheer about as he netted a triple, cutting the Eagles lead to 14-8.

Things heated up offensively for the Eagles as they outscored the Knights  8-2 the rest of the first quarter, 22-10.

Defense continued to shine in the second quarter for Bald Eagles as they were able to hold the Knights offense to single digits allowing only eight points in the second.

Offensively, the Eagles continued to extend its lead to outscore Moshannon Valley 9-8 in the second, giving the Eagles a 31-18 lead going into the intermission.

Coming out of the half, the Eagles again looked sharp in their offensive side of the court.

Hosband started off the third quarter with consecutive buckets.

After a MoValley free throw, the Eagles went on a 7-2 run, extending the contest to 43-21.

When the dust settled on the third, the Wagles had built up a 23-point advantage going into the final stanza.

In the fourth, the two teams both scored eight points, giving the Eagles the 23-point victory.

The Eagles will be back in action Tuesday as they host Richland.

Bald Eagle Area 57, Mo Valley 34

MoV 10 8   8 8 – 34

BEA 22 9 18 8 – 57

Scoring: MoV –    Bo Washall 2 1-2 4, Kaden Kephart 2 0-0 6, Jensen Hansel 1 0-0 2, Kyle Marrick 1 0-0 3, Troy Conner 5 1-2 11, Carter Weakland 1 3-4 5. Totals 13 4-6 34. BEA –   Luke Hosband 7 0-0 16, Kane Wolf 6 0-0 16, James Cowan 8 3-7 19, Wade Habovick 0 2-2 2, Wyatt Spackman 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 7-11 57.

Played but didn’t score: MoV – Valent 0 0-0 0, Carter Berg 0 0-0 0, Noah Charney 0 0-0 0 BEA – Jackson Millwood 0 0-0 0, Ethan Hoover 0 0-0 0, Garrett Johnson 0 0-0 0, Chase Cane  0 0-0 0, Sam Clark 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Klinefelter 0 0-0 0 .

Three-point shots: MoV – Kyle Marrick, Kaden Kephart 2. BEA –   Hosband 2, Wolf 4.