By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

The Bishop Guilfoyle Academy boys basketball program celebrated its senior night Monday at home, and the six seniors who were playing the final regular-season home game in their varsity careers all showed well as the Marauders rolled past Penns Valley, 88-62, in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchup.

Sharp-shooting senior guard Nick Foor scored a game-high 22 points for BG, while 6-foot-8 senior forward Trevor Rehm — who will continue his basketball career at NCAA Division II Nova Southeastern University in Florida — stepped on to the court for the first and only time this season after suffering a season-ending injury last summer and scored an uncontested dunk to open the BG scoring.

Seniors Chase Kissell, who scored 10 points, Braden Reilly, who scored eight, and Hamilton Gates, who scored four, each made contributions, and senior Michael Cacciotti drew a loud ovation from the crowd with a late fourth-quarter layup.

BG coach Ryan Lestochi had high praise for all six of his seniors after the Marauders improved to 17-3 overall and a perfect 16-0 in conference play.

“We have a locker room full of good players, some of who would be starting on other teams,” Lestochi said. “We have a great group of seniors who are good leaders and who have been good for the younger kids on the team, and good for the program overall.”

Five seniors got significant playing time throughout the game Monday, with Gates, Foor, Kissell, Cacciotti, and Rehm comprising the starting five and Reilly coming off the bench very early in the first quarter.

Foor scored 15 first-half points on five 3-pointers as BG opened up a 42-27 halftime lead and never looked back.

“Nick has been playing varsity basketball here since his freshman season, and starting since his sophomore year,” Lestochi said of Foor, who buried six 3-pointers Monday. “He’s a fantastic kid who may be the most well-liked kid on the team. The other kids on the team want Nick to succeed, and he’s been having a great senior year.”

The Rehm bucket was a nice touch to usher out the standout’s varsity career. After BG allowed an uncontested layup by junior Fletcher Ironside to start the game, both teams cleared a pathway to the basket for Rehm, who broke in and flushed the dunk before accepting congratulations from all of his teammates and then departing the court.

“Trevor has been a big part of our program, and that was a big deal for him,” Lestochi said. “He won’t be fully cleared medically until April, but it was nice for him to get out on the court for at least that one play.”

BG got its usual balanced scoring effort, with junior Taurean Consiglio’s 14 points and sophomore Grant Okonak’s 10 complementing the double-figure scoring efforts of Foor and Chase Kissell.

Penns Valley (11-10, 8-9) was led by junior Noah Patel’s 18 points. Fletcher Ironside chipped in 15 and Carter Ironside had 13 for the Rams.

“BG has a lot of really talented players who can do a lot of things well and put the ball in the hole,” Penns Valley coach Rob Irwin said of the Marauders, who got a game-high eight rebounds from junior Jake Kissell.

“I was happy with the way that our kids came out and competed and didn’t back down tonight,” Irwin said. “I was very happy with their effort. You can’t ask any more from them than to come out and compete hard, and that’s what they did.”

BG closes its regular season with a conference game at Bellefonte tonight, and the Marauders will host an LHAC tournament semifinal game at 7 p.m. Thursday against Forest Hills.

The winner of Thursday night’s semifinal matchup will advance to the conference championship game, against the winner of Thursday’s other semifinal contest between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown. The conference championship game will be played Saturday at Penn State Altoona.

PENNS VALLEY (62): Webster 2 0-0 4, Patel 8 2-3 18, F. Ironside 6 2-6 15, C. Ironside 4 2-2 13, Althouse 2 1-2 5, Fetterolf 3 1-2 7, Battaglia 0 0-0 0, Parsons 0 0-0 0. Totals – 25 8-15 62.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (88): Foor 8 0-0 22, C. Kissell 4 2-3 10, Gates 2 0-0 4, Rehm 1 0-0 2, Reilly 3 2-2 8, Lestochi 3 0-0 6, Consiglio 7 0-0 14, J. Kissell 3 2-4 8, G. Okonak 5 0-0 10, Ruggery 1 0-0 2, Cacciotti 1 0-0 2. Totals – 38 6-9 88.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penns Valley 13 14 25 10–62

Bishop Guilfoyle 25 17 29 17–88

3-point goals: Penns Valley 4 (C. Ironside 3, F. Ironside); Bishop Guilfoyle 6 (Foor 6).

Records: Penns Valley (11-10 overall, 8-9 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Bishop Guilfoyle (17-3, 16-0).

Officials: Bill Pfeffer, Craig Andros, Kevin Laird.

JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 70-27. High scorers–Battaglia, PV, 13; Marasco, Krimmel, Nachtman, BG, 14 apiece.