The Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils would be down by two before they even stepped off of the bus last evening in Mount Union. For the past two weeks, the Blue Devils have been forced to play without their big man Alan Wertz. Last night they were without the services of the other big man Anthony Jenkins who did not make the trip. The Bellwood team has been able to respond to not having one of their big men, but not having them both could be a potential problem.
“We came out and played a team effort tonight. We cannot use the loss of Alan and Anthony as an excuse. We just needed to come out and play hard,” said Blaze Winterstein after last night\’s game.
What the Blue Devils lacked on the floor in height, they more than made up with team work and hustle, as they rolled past the Mount Union Trojans 49-38 on the Trojans home floor.
“This is a big win for us. We have had trouble coming down here and winning over the years,” said Bellwood-Antis head coach Tim Keech. “We needed to step it up and everyone had to go all out and do a little more,” continued Coach Keech.
Ben Hatch came out and hit two three point shots and when Eric McCrum put in an offensive rebound Bellwood had gone up 10 – 7 by the 3:30 mark of the first quarter. Mount Union would cut the lead to two at the 1:47 mark, but the Blue Devils would respond with a six point run to go up 16-9. The Trojans would come down and hit a two, but Blaze Winterstein hit a three point shot to answer and put Bellwood-Antis up 19-9 at the end of one period.
Finally, the Blue Devils were able to come out to start a game and hit their shots. Bellwood-Antis shot forty-seven percent from the floor to open the game. Mount Union hung close by shooting forty-two percent.
Two things happened to start the first few minutes of play in the second period. First, the Blue Devil\’s pressure defense was giving Mount Union all sorts of problems. Second, the Bellwood-Antis offense was just shooting over the Trojan\’s zone coverage and by the 4:45 mark the Blue Devils extended their lead to ten at 22-12.
Both teams shooting cooled in the second quarter and Bellwood would go to the locker room up 25-19 at the half.
The Blue Devils would pick right up where they had left off defensively to start the third quarter. The Trojans first two processions resulted in a forced turnover and a Bellwood steal. The Blue Devils held the Trojans scoreless for the first 2:07 of the third quarter. “Coach (Matt) Stinson works us real hard on defense,” said Winterstein. “He gave us some adjustments at half-time that really helped us on (John) Martinez,” Winterstein added after the game.
The Blue Devils maintained their lead after three quarters of play 36-31.
The fourth quarter was a mirror of the first three with the Bellwood-Antis pressure defense keeping the Trojans at bay and making them work for any points that the would score.
Bellwood-Antis would then begin to run the clock and look for the lay-up. That is until a three point shot was let fly that was off the mark. Coach Keech was off the bench and did a really good three sixty spin while yelling at the same time, “Does anyone listen to me during time outs?”
The dance step worked, as the Blue Devils would run the clock with good ball movement and lots of hustle. All the Trojans could do was foul and send the Blue Devils to the line to shoot one and one foul shots. If Bellwood-Antis would have been able to hit these foul shots the game would have been put out of reach much sooner.
“We need to hit our foul shots better. This game was over a great deal sooner if we learn to hit from the foul line,” said Coach Keech.
Bellwood would walk off the floor with yet another victory on the season 49-38.
“This was really good to come back and win after the loss to Penns Valley,” said Winterstein. Winterstein would lead the Blue Devils with eighteen points and a game high rebound total of five for Bellwood.
“I thought Blaze (Winterstein) played his best game of the year for us tonight. Any time you can hold a player the caliber of (John) Martinez under twenty points, you have done a great job,” concluded Coach Keech.
Bellwood now goes to 11-3 (9-1 JVL) while Mount Union slides to 10-7 (7-4 JVL) on the year.
Game notes: Winterstein led Bellwood-Antis with eighteen points, Ben Hatch with fourteen and Tyler Elvey with ten. Elvey also played under the boards last night pulling down three rebounds. Martinez led Mt. Union with eighteen. The B-A Junior Varsity took a page from the varsity last evening hitting a three point shot with under one second left in the game to send the contest into overtime. Unfortunately Bellwood would lose in double overtime 47-45. Nate Gray led the J.V. effort with twenty-six points.
Bellwood-Antis 49 Mount Union 38
Bellwood-Antis: Christner 1 0-0 2, Winterstein 5 5-8 18, Hatch 4 3-4 14, McCrum 1 1-3 3, Elvey 3 2-3 10, Hughes 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 11-18 49.
Mt. Union: Park 1 3-4 5, Russell 1 0-0 3, Martinez 8 0-1 18,Hollibaugh 3 2-2 8, Barcelona 1 0-0 2, Stewart 1 0-2 2. Totals 15 5-9 38.
Bellwood-Antis 19 6 11 13 – 49
Mount Union 11 8 12 7 – 38
Three point shots: Bellwood-Antis: 8 (Winterstein 3, Hatch 3, Elvey 2).
Mount Union: 3 (Russell, Martinez 2).
