The difference in the boys basketball game at Bellwood on Saturday night was the Southern Huntingdon Rockets ability to pick the pocket of the Blue Devils. Southern Huntingdon carried an 11-7 surplus in steals and was able to turn every one of the four extra steals into points in a 45-36 win for Southern.
Rocket senior Corey Coyle was able to turn three steal opportunities into points in the first quarter, including back-to-back steals which he converted into points of his own and pilfered several more throughout the game when he turned the ball over to teammates for points after he stole the ball away from the Blue Devils.
“Too many turnovers and a-box-and-one defense that Southern Huntingdon used gave us lots of problems,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Tim Keech. “We have so used to seeing that and playing against it. I have worked with some good coaches over the years, Gene Yingling and Bernie Jubeck. It’s always the same-get motion. I thought Shawn (Weiand) did a tremendous job against that box-and-one. He forced a shot only twice all night. The other times, he brought pressure to him and kicked it out. We just needed other kids to step up and put the ball in the basket. Shawn was still our high scorer, but the next highest guy only scored five points.”
Southern scored first to open the game, but Shawn Weiand tossed in a three-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead. Paul Greiner fired a trey of his own to tie the game at 6-6, but Southern with the help of several steals and buckets, Southern raced out to a 14-6 lead. Chris Edmiston put in a jumper and Weiand added a three-point play on a basket and foul shot as B-A closed to 16-10 at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter was a slow period for both teams with just 14 points total added to the scoreboard. Southern Huntingdon added two to their lead with an 8-6 margin to take a 24-16 lead at the half.
Mark DelGrosso scored both his baskets for the game, on consecutive trips down court, the second a trey and Tyler McClellan added one of two foul shots for the B-A scoring.
“Mark DelGrosso played well in the first half,” said Keech. “He got some open looks and knocked some shots down. Tyler McClellan was a little off, but at least he was willing to step and take the shots. Those are shots we have to make if we are going to win games like this.”
Greiner opened the third quarter with a bucket and Weiand hit one basket on a short jumper, converted a steal and coast-to-coast drive into another and completed his third straight deuce on the following trip down court to slice the Rockets’ lead to 26-24.
Aaron Bell grabbed a rebound and put it back into the net for one basket and with time running out, the Blue Devils worked Brandon Boone free on an inbounds play to just beat the buzzer to tie the score at 28-28 with eight minutes to play.
“We had the momentum at the end of the third quarter,” stated Keech. “We tied it up on the inbounds play. From there on, there were four minutes to play in the game and we were outscored eight to three down 36-33 and we only scored three more the rest of the way.”
In a critical portion of the game, Weiand opened the fourth quarter with a trey to move B-A into a 31-28 lead. Bellwood-Antis however went several trips down without scoring, some of the time, not even being able to get a shot off.
Southern Huntingdon scored 10 straight points to jump into a 38-31 lead, before Matt Plummer, who played a monster game on defense, grabbed a rebound and put it back in to stop the Rockets momentum momentarily. Southern went right back on the attack, with the Blue Devils forced to foul in an attempt to get the ball. Tyler McClellan ended the game by sinking a trey with two seconds to play, but the Rockets sunk seven of eight throws from the charity line to wrap up their fourth win in 21 tries, while Bellwood-Antis falls to 5-18.
Weiand scored 14 points to lead the Blue Devils, but DelGrosso and Greiner with five points were the next highest totals for B-A. Plummer had 12 rebounds and was responsible for many points off offensive boards, despite getting foul trouble and finally fouling out with 0:13 left in the game.
“Matt Plummer is just a warrior,” said Keech of his senior post player. “He went in there giving up at least five or six inches to the kid he was guarding. He went in there fighting, he got good position, he pulled down key rebounds. He didn’t turn the ball over, he got it out and let us bring the ball down. I can’t say enough about him. He is really the heart and soul of this team with his enthusiasm and his willingness to come every single day and work hard. He is not the most skilled basketball player, but he makes up for it with his intensity and the way he hustles. We are really going to miss him next year.”
Bellwood-Antis concludes their season on Tuesday night when they host Mount Union. The junior varsity game is set for 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity
Southern Huntingdon won the junior varsity game 43-32.
The little Blue Devils trailed 28-23 with one quarter to play, then were able to close to 30-28 with three minutes to go, but were outscored 13-4 over that period.
Tyler McClellan led the Blue Devils with 10 points and Brandon Boone added eight. Tony DelGrosso pulled down seven rebounds and Chris Edmiston and L. J. Seidel had five boards each.
Jordan Yohn had 12 points for Southern Huntingdon and Matt Baer added 11 points.
Southern Huntingdon 45 Bellwood-Antis 36
SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON – Coyle 4 0-2 8, Speck 5 1-2 11, Schnarrs 2 5-6 9, Neuder 4 0-2 8, Traxler 3 2-2 9, Crull 0 0-0 0, Welsh 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 8-14 45.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Bell 1 0-0 2, McClellan 1 1-2 4, Weiand 5 2-2 14, M. DelGrosso 2 0-0 5, Greiner 2 0-0 5, Plummer 1 0-2 2, Blazier 0 0-0 0, Boone 1 0-0 2, Edmiston 1 0-0 2, Seidel 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 3-6 36.
Score By Quarters
Southern Huntingdon 16 8 4 17 – 45
Bellwood-Antis 10 6 12 8 – 36
Three-point goals: Southern Huntingdon 1 (Traxler 1).
Bellwood-Antis 5 (Weiand 2, McClellan 1, M. DelGrosso 1, Greiner 1).
