A Brief History of Bellefonte Girl’s Basketball
The newspaper headline in 1969 read as follows: “Finally . . . A Team”. Bellefonte finally got its first interscholastic girl’s basketball team in the Winter season of 1969/1970. Coach Jeanne Wagman had 85 girls try out for the team and after first eliminations and final cuts, the roster was reduced to 24 players.
Linda Lowe took over the Red Raiderettes for the Winter 1972/1973 season. The next year the season moved to Spring 1974. Coach Lowe led the team for 9 seasons, totaled 99 wins and her 1975 team was the Central Penn League Champions.
Bucky Quici took over in 1981 as the season was moved again, this time to the Fall season. The Fall 1982 team won the league title with an undefeated 14-0 regular season mark. A playoff loss was the only blemish on their schedule. Two years later, the season was switched again back to the Winter season where it has stayed ever since. In 1985, Coach Quici approached the Athletic Director about changing the name from the “Red Raiderettes” to the “Lady Raiders”. The 1986/1987 team finished with 18 wins, was District 6 runner-up and qualified for the state playoffs. Bucky coached for 8 seasons and earned 101 victories.
The 1990’s saw five different coaches lead the Lady Raiders. During the 1992/1993 season, Amy Facer became the first Lady Raider to break the 1,000 point milestone. She continues to be the leading scorer in Bellefonte Lady Raider history.
The 2004/2005 season saw this milestone broken for the second time as Kristin Irwin scored her 1,000th point. This year’s team tied the school record of 18 wins in a season and was also District VI runner-up.
The team win record was broken the very next year as the 2005/2006 team, coached by Tina Gaughan, piled up the accomplishments. They set a team record of 20 wins on their way to winning the first District VI Championship in Lady Raider history. This season included beating Bishop Guilfoyle and Hollidaysburg for the first time ever, beating Lewistown for the first time in 20 years and also winning their first game in the state playoffs.
The 2006/2007 team almost equaled the previous year. This team won 19 games, was District VI runner-up and again earned a spot in the state playoffs. During this season, Missy Clouser became the third Lady Raider to score 1,000 points.
The 2007/2008 team continued the current winning tradition and has taken the program to an even higher level. Playing in a new gym and with a new coach (Darin Hazel), the Lady Raider team won 22 games (new record) and also won the program’s second District VI title. The Lady Raiders then won 2 games in the state playoffs to reach the Elite Eight and finished the season ranked #7 in the state. Angie Proper became the fourth Lady Raider to score 1,000 points and also became the first Lady Raider basketball player to earn All-State honors when she was named to the Associated Press PA All-State Third Team.
Mark Proper, Spring 2008