In basketball games are made up of two halves. Thank goodness the game is designed that way. Just ask first-year girls Bellwood-Antis basketball coach Nick Lovrich. His team trailed the Lady Blue Pirates of Williamsburg by a whopping 20 points at halftime.
However, thankfully in the second half, the Lady Devils were able to turn the tables on Williamsburg late and go on to a 62-55 victory Monday night in the friendly confines of the Bellwood-Antis High School Gymnasium.
Williamsburg’s Ashley Severa nailed a three-pointer off the opening tip that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the first half. The Lady Pirates carried the first and second quarters using a motion attack that was executed to perfection. Williamsburg led 20-12 at the end of the first quarter and was able to stretch the margin to 20 at the half, 39-19.
“WE got into some foul trouble early and had to play a lot of girls,” said Lovrich, “but never quit. We were able to stay in the game to some extent and give ourselves a chance to come back in the second half. I was really proud of the girls for that.”
Obviously when down by 20 points at halftime, adjustments need to be made. Lovrich must have made all of the right ones.
“We needed to get more aggressive, explained Lovrich. “In the first half, it seemed that they (Williamsburg) got every rebound and every loose ball. I told our girls that in the second half that I wanted us to get every loose ball and box out more around the basket. We decided to come out in a full-court man-to-man press that would allow us to play more aggressively. I think that was the biggest difference in the second half.”
Trailing by 20, Bellwood went right to work and thanks in large part to several missed opportunities by the Lady Pirates and a huge third quarter by B-A sophomore forward Stephanie Hatch, the Lady Devils went right to work. With 2:00 left to play in the third quarter, Bellwood-Antis had managed to pull within six points. Although a Williamsburg run late in the quarter stretched the lead back to 10 at the end of the period, with eight minutes to play, the damage had already been done.
Bellwood-Antis had grabbed the momentum and gotten itself back in the game.
The fourth quarter was all Bellwood-Antis. Katie Gardner scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the quarter and Stephanie Hatch hit a jumper from the top of the arc with under three minutes to play to cap an amazing comeback and put the Lady Blue Devils in front for good.
The Bellwood-Antis girls shot the lights out from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, going 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and 14 for 16 for the entire game.
Gardner finished with 10 rebounds, while Hatch pulled down 13 as both girls notched their second straight double-doubles.
After the game, coach Lovrich was very pleased with how his team shot from the foul line.
“WE really stepped up in the fourth quarter and made our free throws. Katie (Gardner), Steph (Hatch), Ashley (Edevane) and Emily (Worthing) all went to the line and put the game away for us.”
With the win, Bellwood-Antis improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Juniata Valley League. The loss drops Williamsburg to 3-2. The Lady Blue Devils will next play on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Penns Valley.
Junior Varsity
Williamsburg was able to hold off a late Bellwood-Antis comeback in junior varsity action and escaped with a 34-29 win in the prelim. Bellwood’s Lauren Carter scored 12 points, pulled 13 rebounds and blocked seven shots. However, it wasn’t enough for the Lady Blue Devils to overcome a first quarter in which they were shut out in the scoring column.
Williamsburg was led by Amber Severa with 10 points.
The Bellwood-Antis girls Jayvees fall to 2-1 and will play at Penns Valley next on Thursday. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Bellwood-Antis 62 Williamsburg 57
WILLIAMSBURG – As, Severa 5 6-10 17, J. Tate 4 0-1 9, M. Tate 5 5-10 15, Houck 2 0-2 5, Brumbaugh 1 0-0 2, Lear 0 2-2 2, Am. Severa 1 3-4 5. TOTALS 18 16-29 57.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Edevane 2 5-6 9, Gardner 10 3-3 23, Meredith 2 0-1 4, Worthing 0 2-2 2, Ridgeway 0 0-0 0, Hatch 9 4-4 22, Sprankle 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0, A. Smith 1 0-0 2, Carter 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 14-16 62.
Score by Quarters
Williamsburg 20 19 8 7 – 57
Bellwood-Antis 12 7 19 24 – 62
Three-point goals Williamsburg 3 (As. Severa 1, Houck 1 J. Tate 1)\
