Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils came into tonight’s contest with a perfect 11-0 record. The Black Knights of Moshannon Valley weren’t planning on letting the Blue Devils make them the 12th victim. BA Coach Tim Keech knew that the Knights were a good basketball team as they traveled to Mt. Union earlier in the year and almost came away with a victory.
“We knew we had to come out focused,” said Keech. “When you are undefeated, everyone wants a piece of you. If you don’t come out ready to play every game, it’s very easy to get knocked off.”
Bellwood didn’t exactly start the game by setting the world on fire. Both clubs struggled putting the ball in the basket in the early going until senior guard Ricky Shannon hit a couple of big shots to give the Blue Devils a cushion. The first quarter ended 17-6 in favor of the BA as the Blue Devils blew by Mo Valley with a 14-0 spree that began midway through the opening period with the Black Knights leading bellwood-Antis 6-5, and included the first bucket of the second quarter.
Mo Valley couldn’t seem to solve Bellwood’s full court, man to man press. The second quarter featured eight different Blue Devils scoring to help Bellwood jump out to a 37-20 halftime advantage.
“I thought we started off a little slow, but our press helped us get some easy buckets to build a lead,” said Keech. “I told our kids we couldn’t let up. We needed to dominate the third quarter.”
The Blue Devils followed the game plan to perfection, and they opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run that ballooned the lead to 24 points. The defensive performance was also stellar as BA held the Knights to only six third quarter points. The scoreboard showed a 52-26 lead for the Blue Devils after three.
The entire Blue Devil bench saw playing time in the fourth quarter, and nine Blue Devils put points on the board tonight. Senior forward Ryan Myers led BA with 16 points while Shannon netted 11 and Steve Crider tallied 10.
“This was a good win for us,” Keech added. “We got a lot of guys in tonight, and everyone gave us a pretty solid effort.”
Steve Holencik and Luke Martin each had 10 to lead the Black Knights. Bellwood improved to a perfect 12-0 on the season. The Bellwood Antis JV squad also picked up a victory over Moshannon Valley.
The Blue Devils return to action on Thursday as they travel to Williamsburg. JV action starts at 6 with Varsity following at 7:30.
Bellwood-Antis 61 Moshannon Valley 39
MO VALLEY (39) Keith 1 0-0 2, Kephart 1 1-2 4, Belella 3 0-0 6, Holencik 4 2-4 10, Stodart 1 0-4 2, Freeman 1 0-0 2, Martin 5 0-0 10, Mills 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 16 6-14 39.

BELLWOOD (61) Shannon 5 0-0 11, Smith 2 0-0 6, Mattern 1 2-4 5, Crider 5 0-1 10, Hughes 1 0-0 2, Greiner 1 3-4 5, Carlson 2 0-0 4, Myers 7 2-3 16, Rogers 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 24 9-14 61.
Score By Quarters
Moshannon Valley 6 14 6 13 – 39
Bellwood-Antis 17 20 15 9 – 61
Three-point goals: Moshannon Valley 1 (Kephart 1); Bellwood-Antis 4 (Smith 2, Shannon 1, Mattern 1).

By Rick