Ile and Baublitz make a difference for Mont Alto Basketball

Penn State Mont Alto men's and women's basketball teams fell short to Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Beaver at home over the weekend.  Friday night Mont Alto women were trailing 41-11 at halftime and were unable to come back in the second half.  Kayla Gibbons led Mont Alto with 12 points in the 29 to 79 loss.  "The ladies are adjusting to the change in the roster from first to second semester with the loss of three players and no additional players coming on board. The difference in height of the two teams was a factor that we will have to make adjustments for in upcoming games. We found our stride in the later part of the second half and will continue with building on that," Coach Shawn Burgener explained after the game.

Mont Alto men had the lead at the end of the first half (28-23), but Schuylkill took it away with a 21-point victory (69-48).  Mont Alto has a few changes in the roster from last semester, including three new players, Trevor Ile, D.J. Cordell, and Aaron Moats. "They will be a positive addition to our team with their enthusiasm, hard work and skill sets," explained Head Coach Marc Fry.  Ile came in off the bench and scored 15 points for Mont Alto in his first game appearance.  "I wanted to play last semester but it didn't work out with my class schedule.  It felt good playing tonight and I really just wanted to see what I could do.  I hope to bring energy and hard work to the team, if I'm working hard, others will see that and follow along," Ile explained. 

Saturday, Beaver took the win on the road against both Mont Alto women and men.  Beaver was leading 38-12 at intermission and finished the game 77-24.  Rachel Baubiltz joined the team this semester and came through with scoring 7 points and Angeline Bropleh grabbed 4 rebounds and 8 steals for Mont Alto.  Coach Burgener commented on the game "the loss to Beaver was a hard loss for us. We had a hard time keeping up with them defensively and transition up the floor on the fast breaks. The addition of Racheal Baublitz helped us in the area of rebounding and defense however as a team we have work to do."

Mont Alto men took on the leading team in the conference and were unable to defeat Beaver in Saturday's game.   Mont Alto trailed 39-25 at halftime.  Both Shane Santell (15) and Kevin Onyeaka (10) got double–figure scoring.  The game ended with a loss for Mont Alto (79-56).