The Lady Blue Devils of Bellwood Antis were looking to get back on the winning track as they traveled to Glendaleopn Wednesday evening. After a tough road loss at league power Southern Huntingdon, Bellwood looked to jump out to a big lead and take out a little frustration on the Lady Vikings. It didn’t come easy, but the Lady Blue Devils came home with a 41-27 victory
Things didn’t start off well for the Lady Blue Devils, however. Glendale jumped out to an early 10-5 lead after one quarter of play. Bellwood found points hard to come by and found themselves in a five point hole after one.
Bellwood-Antis outscored the Lady Vikes in the second quarter by a tally of 9-7, but the halftime score showed Glendale leading 17-14. BA coach Nick Lovrich was not pleased with his team’s start.
“We came out sluggish,” said Lovrich. “We weren’t ready to play. When you don’t have the right mental mindset, it is easy to put yourself in a big hole.”
The Lady Blue Devils used a pivotal third quarter as a stepping stone to grab the lead. Outscoring the Lady Vikings 17-2 in the quarter, Bellwood-Antis used a 1-3-1 zone defense to frustrate Glendale into numerous turnovers. Sophomore forward Steph Hatch was at the point of the zone that gave the Lady Vikings fits. Hatch had six points to go along with a number of steals.
“That third quarter was huge,” said Lovrich. “We came out more aggressive and intense. Once we jumped out to that lead, they couldn’t stay with us.”
Junior Katie Gardner continued to show why she is one of the best post players in the area. Gardner tallied a game high 17 points and controlled the boards all night long.
The Lady Blue Devils overcame the Glandale lead by allowing just 10 second-half points by the Lady Vikings, stepping it up a notch and outscoring their hosts 27-10.
The final score was 41-27 in favor of Bellwood as they ran their record to 7-5 overall (6-2 in first cycle Juniata Valley League action). The five Lady Blue Devil starters accounted for all 41 of their points.
Bellwood will be back in action on Friday as they host the Lady Hornets of Juniata Valley. JV tipoff is at 6 followed by Varsity at 7:30.
Junior Varsity
The Bellwood Antis JV team picked up a victory over Glendale by a count of 29-16. Samantha Erickson led the Lady Devils with seven points.
Bellwood-Antis 41 Glendale 27
BELLWOOD-ANTIS: (41) Worthing 2 1-2 5, Edevane 2 3-6 8, Hatch 3 0-0 6, Meredith 2 1-6 5, Gardner 8 1-3 17 Swanson 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0, A. Smith 0 0-0 0, Ridgeway 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 6-17 41.
GLENDALE: (27) O’Shell 3 0-0 6, Killion 1 0-0 2, Gates 2 3-7 7, McClellan 2 1-2 5, McGarvey 1 1-3 3, Dick 1 0-0 2, Laing 1 0-2 2, Kutruff 0 0-0 0, Heverly 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 11 5-16 27.
Score By Quarters
Bellwood-Antis 5 9 17 10 – 41
Glendale 10 7 2 8 – 27
Three-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 1 (Edevane 1); Glendale none.
