By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – It was a tough night for the Bellefonte girls basketball team on Friday night as they went up against a scrappy Bedford team that possessed a very tough defensive effort in their contest.

In the end, the young Red Raiders team fell 44-19 at home.

Leading the offense for the Lady Raiders was Riley Santostefano who posted seven. She also hit the lone triple for Bellefonte.

Teammate Talia Cotter followed up with six. She hit all three on field goals.

The Bison were led by Rebekah Costal who notched a game-high 17-point effort in the victory.

Katie McDevitt also finished in double digits on the night as she finished with 10.

Despite the loss, the Red Raiders led in the boards, as they got 10 boards from Taylor Brown, 26-13.

Bellefonte also finished with a block by Talia Cotter.

“We are trying to get the younger girls as much exposure as possible. I’m proud of them for stepping up and pushing through,” said Bellefonte coach Marissa Ward. “We are proud of them and we are continuing to see improvement.”

Early on, the Bison would jump out to the 5-0 advantage.

But Bellefonte got its first points when Santostefano pulled down an offensive rebound and a putback, making it a 3-point contest.

Lexi Fravel posted the other bucket in the first quarter as the Bison led 16-4.

Despite being behind early, the Lady Raiders continued to battle.

Despite dominating the boards, Bellefonte would find itself trailing 34-9 At the half.

Picking up points in the second for Bellefonte was Santostefano with three and Cotter with two.

Coming out in the third quarter, the Bison kept the momentum from the first two quarters and extended their lead to 43-13 as the final stanza began.

Gigi Jasseh and Cotter had the buckets for Bellefonte in the third.

In the fourth, the Red Raiders finished out strong as they outscored the Lady Bison 6-1.

But it would be too little too late as Bedford took home the win.

Bedford 44, Bellefonte  19

BED 16 18  9 1 – 44

BEL.  4   5  4 6 – 19

Scoring: BED –   Rebekah Costal 4 7-13 17, Ashlyn Pemberton 1 0-0 2, Kasy Shuke 3 1-3 8, Sami Shormaker 1 0-0 2, Katie McDevitt 3 1-2 10, Kacey Martz 0 1-3 1, Shanion Letrent 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 10-23 44. BEL –  Gigi Jasseh 1 0-0 2, Talia Cotter 3 0-0 6, Riley Santostefano 3 0-0 7, Ella Herr 0 2-2 2. Totals 8 2-2 19.

Played but didn’t score: BED –   Emma Byers 0 0-0 0, Makayla Koontz 0 0-0 0. BEL –  Taylor Brown 0 0-0 0, Jaylee Lose 0 0-0 0, Ava Lose 0 0-0 0, Addie Herr 0 0-0 0, Aubrey Mason 0 0-0 0, Adrian Masullo 0 0-0 0.

Three-point shots: BED –   McDevitt 3,Shuke . BEL –  Santostefano.