For the Bellwood-Antis basketball seniors, Wednesday’s game with Williamsburg was the last that they would ever play a game on their home floor. Obviously, they decided to go out in style. Three Blue Devils scored in double figures in a dominating performance that gave Bellwood a 52-40 victory.
Bellwood jumped out to the early lead, grabbing a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blue Devil senior captains Steve Crider and Ryan Myers got B-A started, scoring six and five points respectively in the first period. Williamsburg’s Zach Jones kept the Blue Pirates in the game though, scoring nine points in the opening eight minutes on three treys.
The Blue Devils picked up their defense in the second quarter, allowing the Blue Pirates only eight points in the period, taking a 35-21 lead into half. Ricky Shannon and Dan Smith each hit three-pointers that padded the Blue Devil lead. Shannon then hit a short jumper just before the halftime buzzer that gave the home team a 14-point lead at halftime.
The defensive attack continued in the second half as well. With the Blue Devil offense dormant at times, the defensive took over the game, once again holding the Blue Pirate offense to only eight points in the third quarter. Despite scoring only seven points in the quarter themselves, Bellwood-Antis was able to keep a padded margin thanks to their defense.
“Our defense is much improved this year,” said Blue Devil coach Tim Keech. “A lot of the credit for that goes to my assistant Matt Stinson. In just his first season here, he has brought a new approach to our defense. The kids love him too. His enthusiasm for the game won them over almost immediately.”
The fourth quarter was much like the third. With Bellwood-Antis able to keep a double-digit lead almost the entire time, it allowed Keech an opportunity to get each one of his starters a standing ovation as he pulled each out one at a time. The reserves then finished the job, finishing off the victory.
After the game, Keech couldn’t say enough about his seniors.
“Our team has been led by this group of eight seniors all year. They are a great bunch of kids and I am privileged to coach them. This is the first class in which I have coached for three full seasons and they are always ready to get the job done.”
The win gives Bellwood-Antis its second 20-win season in three years as it improved the Blue Devil’s record to 20-3 on the season. The Blue Devils received team-high 15 points from Ryan Myers. Fellow seniors Steve Crider and Nathan Carlson added 11 and 12 respectively.
Williamsburg was led by Zach Jones’s game-high 17 points. They also picked up 11 points from George Lehman and 10 from Nate Cadle. The loss drops the Blue Pirates to 9-13 on the season.
The Blue Devils will be in action next on Monday, as they travel to Penns Valley in hopes of avenging their first loss of the season, which came at the hands of the Rams in overtime back in January.
Junior Varsity
Williamsburg’s Nate Cadle hit 3 free throws with 0:04 left to give the Blue Pirates a one-point lead. But, B-A’s Paul Greiner hit a buzzer-beater from just inside the three-point to give the Blue Devils a one point 45-44 win. Aaron Bell led the Blue Devils with 14 points.
Bellwood-Antis 52 Williamsburg 40
WILLIAMSBURG (40): Prough 0 0-0 0, Jones 5 3-4 17, Cadle 4 2-2 10, Caffey 0 0-0 0, Lehman 4 3-4 11, Mattern 2 0-2 2, Landis 0 0-0 0; Kennedy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 8-12 40.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (52): Shannon 2 1-2 6, Smith 2 0-0 6, Mattern 0 0-0 0, Crider 4 3-4 11, Hughes 0 0-0 0, Greiner 2 0-0 4, Carlson 5 0-0 10, Myers 6 3-4 15, DelGrosso 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-7-10 52
Score By Quarters
Williamsburg 13 8 8 11 – 40
Bellwood-Antis 19 16 7 10 – 52
3 Point Goals: Williamsburg 4 (Jones 4); Bellwood-Antis 3 (Smith 2, Shannon 1)
