The Bellwood Antis Lady Blue Devil basketball team is in a tough position. With playoffs right around the corner, Bellwood is without two-fifths of its regular starting lineup. Junior point guard Ashley Edevane, (broken fibula) and sophomore forward Stephanie Hatch (mononucleosis) are out indefinitely for the District VI playoffs. Hatch and Edevane are two of the top three scorers on the Devils’ roster. The absences have moved senior Ashley Smith and Junior Trista Sprankle into the starting lineup. Bellwood-Antis Coach Nick Lovrich knows his team will be ready, and he isn’t conceding anything.
“We can’t use the fact that two of our starters are out as an excuse,” said Lovrich. “Ashley and Trista played really well the other night, and hopefully that got them some confidence going into the playoffs.”
Bellwood ended its regular season on a down note, losing a 55-29 decision to the Lady Marauders of BG. But Lovrich thinks his Lady Devil squad has put that game behind them and are ready for the new test of the playoffs.
In Round One of the playoffs, BA will see a similar foe. The Southern Huntingdon Lady Rockets are the number five seed in District VI AA girls, and Bellwood-Antis, the 12 seed, will meet the Lady Rockets at Huntingdon Area High School Tuesday night at 6:00.
Bellwood-Antis lost to Southern twice during the regular season. The Lady Blue Devils could however, have easily won both games, especially the game at Bellwood. The Rockets made a late comeback with under two minutes to go in the contest at Bellwood to squeak out the win.
“I definitely think if we play the way we know how to play, we have a good shot to win this game,” added Lovrich. “Southern is a very good basketball team so we have to come ready to play.”
The winner of this game will match up against the Penns Valley Lady Rams, another Juniata Valley League team that boasts a record of 24-1.
Once again, gametime for the Lady Blue Devils and Lady Rockets is 6:00 at Huntingdon Area High School.
