Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Juniata Valley's Laken Cook is pressured by Claysburg-Kimmel's Cory Walter.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Juniata Valley’s Laken Cook is pressured by Claysburg-Kimmel’s Cory Walter.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Juniata Valley’s Noah Norris puts up a shot over Claysburg-Kimmel’s Blake Kulick.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Claysburg-Kimmel’s Brayden Haney gets by Juniata Valley’s Jett Rand.

ALEXANDRIA — Claysburg-Kimmel lost two games to Juniata Valley during high school football season — including a loss that ended the Bulldogs season in the District 6 Class 1A semifinals.

Some of that frustration boiled over into Monday’s Inter-County Conference boys basketball game which featured five technical fouls, another technical for two flopping violations, a thrown clipboard, a stoppage in play to remove fans from both sides from the gymnasium and a back-and-forth game that ended with an 80-76 Claysburg-Kimmel win in overtime.

“We’re evenly matched, and it’s a rivalry,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said. “It comes from football. Some of our guys wanted a little bit of revenge from football, and it was a great atmosphere for a Monday night of basketball. It was jam packed. It was crazy. We had it all — technical fouls, overtime and just overall craziness. My kids came through, and I’m proud of them.”

Juniata Valley had a couple chances to win the game and some fans in the gym actually thought the Green Hornets did at the end of regulation.

The Bulldogs got the ball back down by one point with 10.7 seconds left and got a couple shots off at the basket before the buzzer sounded. Several Juniata Valley players and fans started to celebrate, but a whistle was blown with one second left that sent C-K star senior Brayden Haney to the line. It was so loud in the gymnasium, some people didn’t hear the whistle.

Haney made the first to tie the game but missed the second sending the game to overtime.

Rather than dwell on the missed chance to win it, Haney took over the extra period — scoring 12 of his team’s 15 points.

“I wanted to come back and get our team the ‘W,’ Haney said. “After sitting out the third quarter, I knew I had to show out for my team.”

Haney sat out the third quarter because he had four fouls at halftime. With 35.7 seconds to play in the second quarter, Haney was called for an offensive foul and then a technical. It was the first of four by the Bulldogs in the game. Juniata Valley also had a technical as part of a double technical, and Joel LeCrone was called for flopping, which gave Haney two free throws and C-K possession in the overtime.

“I was very happy with the way they maintained their composure,” Juniata Valley coach Bill Lightner said. “Something like that — it can go any way, but we preach that throughout the season. No matter what happens out there, we tell them to keep their head and let us handle it. They did a great job, and we told them we appreciated them playing with class — not that (Claysburg) didn’t, but it got ugly and you hate to see that in basketball.”

Despite playing without Haney in the third quarter, Claysburg-Kimmel entered the fourth with a four-point lead. Much of that had to do with Christian and Gavin Treon, who combined for 39 points.

“It was tough (sitting out), but I have all the trust in my team to get the job done,” Haney said. “They started out maybe not the most skilled, but they have developed and now they are some of the best players I have ever played with. They can shoot, drive and can do it all.”

Cory Walter had eight points and 18 rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Cole Walter had seven. Despite missing the entire third quarter, Haney had a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds.

“Christian came up big tonight with a couple give and gos,” Harris said. “He had 21 and was fantastic. His brother played fantastic defense and hit some big 3-pointers early to give us a spark.”

The Green Hornets’ final lead came on Jett Rand’s layup with 1:28 to play in overtime. Juniata Valley got a defensive stop but turned it over itself with 1:15 to go, and Gavin Treon made the go-ahead jump shot with 1:04 left. Haney went 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch.

“Juniata Valley has been struggling lately, but they played really well tonight,” Harris said. “They shot really well from the field tonight and hit some big 3-pointers. I thought the difference was that we had Brayden Haney at the end, but I was really proud of the kids in the third quarter. (Haney) had four fouls and wasn’t out there, but they kept us ahead. That was a fantastic job.”

Rand finished with 18 points, Ethan Scalia had 17 points and Trenton Norris had 11 points for Juniata Valley. LeCrone finished with nine points and 15 rebounds.

“That group of seniors was the first one I moved up in ninth grade, and I’m super proud of them,” Lightner said. “Jett has been a leader from the start, even as a freshman you could see it. He continues to do special things, lead the team and control the floor. Joel lives on the boards and makes a huge difference for us. He steps up, hustles and plays tough basketball.”

The win was Claysburg-Kimmel’s eighth in a row. The Bulldogs have moved all the way up to No. 2 in the District 6 Class 2A playoff rankings behind undefeated United.

“We were 7-4 and had a team meeting and talked about some things,” Harris said. “We changed our practices and shortened them to around an hour and 15 minutes, but they are intense with a lot of shooting involved. The kids come in, get a lot of work and get out.”

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (80): Haney 6 11-12 25, Kulick 2 0-0 6, C. Treon 9 0-0 21, G. Treon 8 0-0 18, Cor. Walter 3 2-4 8, Col. Walter 1 0-0 2, Knisely 0 0-0 0. Totals — 29 13-16 80.

JUNIATA VALLEY (76): Rand 8 0-2 18, LeCrone 3 2-2 9, Spurlin 3 0-0 6, Cook 1 4-8 7, Scalia 6 1-3 17, T. Norris 5 1-2 11, N. Norris 3 0-2 8, Glenny 0 0-0 0. Totals — 29 8-19 76.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 14 19 13 19 15 — 80

Juniata Valley 9 19 14 23 11 — 76

3-point goals: Claysburg-Kimmel 9 (C. Treon 3, G. Treon 2, Kulick 2, Haney 2); Juniata Valley 10 (Scalia 4, N. Norris 2, Rand 2, LeCrone, Cook).

Records: Claysburg-Kimmel (15-4); Juniata Valley (14-6).

Officials: Derrick Soellner, Keith Redfoot, Jarryd Burkett.

JV: Juniata Valley, 70-28. High scorers–P.J. Lewis, CK, 10; Noah Norris, JV, 27.