The first time the Bellwood Antis Lady Blue Devils and the Moshannon Valley Lady Damsels got together, it went right down to the wire. BA won on a last second three point play by Trista Sprankle and escaped Houtzdale with the one point victory.
Last night in Bellwood, the Lady Damsels made a game of it, but a balanced attack proved too much for Mo Valley as BA picked up the 52-42 win.
The first quarter opened up with Bellwood jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead on two Katie Gardner field goals. However, Mo Valley would battle back to tie the score at eight after one quarter of play. The Lady Damsels scored four of the eight points in the last minute, including a 12-foot buzzer beater.
Gardner, who at times this year has carried the Bellwood offense, picked up two fouls in the first and was forced to sit for much of the first half. Coach Nick Lovrich knew that if BA was going to be victorious, other girls would need to factor in to the offense. The Lady Blue Devils responded, and 10 different girls left a mark in the scoring column.
“I was really pleased with all the girls tonight,” said Lovrich. “When Katie picked up those fouls, we had to have other people making shots to stay in the game. The girls off the bench did a real nice job as well.”
Both teams had to scratch and claw for points in the second quarter of play. Bellwood took advantage of an aggressive man to man press that forced Mo Valley into numerous turnovers resulting in BA points. Moshannon Valley’s mainstay was on the glass, where they continued to get second shot opportunities by outboarding BA in the half. Bellwood took a 23-22 advantage into the locker room.
“I thought that was the best we have run our press this year,” noted Lovrich. “The girls really got after it, and down the stretch our press won us this game.”
BA came out ready in the third quarter and maintained right around a seven point advantage most of the quarter. Ashley Edevane scored five of her 11 points in the quarter, and Samantha Erickson came off the bench and hit a huge three pointer that gave the Blue Devils a nine point lead after three quarters. But, the 40-31 lead would disappear rather quickly.
Moshannon Valley entered the fourth quarter and slowly but surely chipped away at the lead. By the four minute mark the lead was down to six. With 2:55 left in the game, the Blue Devil lead was three points, but that was as close as the Lady Damsels would get. Bellwood turned up the heat on their full court press and forced even more Mo Valley turnovers to eventually escape with the 52-42 decision.
“That was a really good win for us,” said Lovrich. “I think a lot of the girls gained some confidence because we had so many people contribute and score. This is another stepping stone for us.”
Katie Gardner led BA with 15 points despite foul trouble throughout the game. Ashley Edevane was the other Lady Blue Devil in double digits with 11. For the Lady Damsels, Trisha Martin netted a game high 18 points, and Ashley Kitko had 14.
Bellwood (9-6 overall and 2-0 in the Juniata Valley League second cycle) returns to action next Tuesday night as they travel to Williamsburg for a showdown with the Lady Pirates. JV starts at 6 with Varsity following at 7:30.
Junior Varsity
The Bellwood Antis JV team picked up a victory over the Lady Damsels last night. Samantha Erickson had a team high nine points in the low-scoring 27-19 triumph.
Bellwood-Antis 52 Moshannon Valley 42
MOSHANNON VALLEY – Washell 0 0-4 0, Martin 6 6-11 18, Kitko 5 4-6 14, Gmerick 1 4-5 6, Hayward 1 2-6 4, Tomasko 0 0-0 0, Nevling 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13 16-42.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Worthing 2 0-0 5, Edevane 5 0-0 11, Hatch 1 3-4 5, Meredith 2 3-6 7, Gardner 7 1-4 15, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Sprankle 0 0-0 0, Erickson 1 0-0 3, Smith 0 0-0 0, Ridgeway 1 0-0 2, Carter 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 21 7-14 52.
Score By Quarters
Moshannon Valley 8 14 9 11 – 42
Bellwood-Antis 8 15 17 12 – 52
Three-point goals: Moshannon Valley 0; Bellwood-Antis 3 (Worthing 1, Edevane, Erickson 1)
