Tuesday night, senior leadership led the Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils to a 53-34 victory over the Lady Trojans of Mount Union. Senior Lauren Carter kept the Lady Blue Devils in the game early, senior Jamie Smith provided the spark that allowed Bellwood-Antis to pull away in the third quarter, and Carter finished Mount Union off with a strong performance early in the fourth quarter.
The game began as a struggle between the stars of each team, Carter for Bellwood-Antis and Mallory Corbin of Mount Union. Carter and Corbin accounted for the games\’ first 14 points, with Carter having a 9-5 edge.
Toyia Price, who scored a team high 15 points for Mount Union, stepped in and scored six straight points to give the Lady Trojans a lead before Carter tied the game at 11 on a layup that ended the first quarter.
“We got the ball to Lauren and she finished on the shots, and that\’s traditionally what has been happening in most of our games; she\’s been a good starter for us,” Bellwood-Antis Head Coach Nick Lovrich said.
Before the Lady Blue Devils took the court for the second quarter, Lovrich cautioned his team that they needed to take better care of the basketball and make good passes.
After a Smith basket gave Bellwood-Antis a lead, Ashley Lechner followed through with her coaches\’ orders. Lechner stole a pass under the Mount Union basket and threw a solid pass to Carter under the basket for a layup.
“Our passes got more crisp, and we did a lot better job of not telegraphing them, and the kids took a lot more pride, and taking care of that basketball was a big thing for us,” Lovrich said.
Price soon pulled the Lady Trojans back within two with a steal and layup, but her temper caught up with her on the next Lady Blue Devil possession when she was whistled for a technical foul.
Carter made one of two free throws, and Victoria Lombardo did the same on the continued possession before Liz Erickson nailed a long jump shot to give Bellwood-Antis a 20-14 advantage.
Four Mount Union free throws brought them back within two, but Carter ended the second quarter the same way she had the first, with a layup, and the score was 22-18.
With Carter having 17 of Bellwood-Antis\’ 22 first half points, Mount Union Head Coach Mike Mittermeier decided to key on Carter to begin the second half.
The Lady Blue Devils responded with a 10-3 run in which none of the points were scored by Carter. Smith scored six of the 10 points.
“Jamie did a great job running the point. That\’s what you want from your senior leadership; you want her to penetrate in, look down, hit some shots and make some dishes, and that\’s what she did,” Lovrich said.
Smith added the game\’s only 3-pointer in the final minute of the quarter to help Bellwood-Antis to a 39-26 lead heading into the final quarter.
Any Mount Union hopes of a comeback were dashed when Carter scored six early points in the fourth quarter to bring her game high total to 27 points and give the Lady Blue Devils a 45-28 lead.
Baskets from Lombardo, Smith, Erickson and Shalee Hunter kept Mount Union from getting any closer as the Blue Devils cruised to a 53-34 win.
“If you hold a high school basketball team under 40 that\’s a good accomplishment, and that\’s what we set our mind out to hold teams underneath it, and hopefully we can continue doing it,” Lovrich said.
The 7-8 Lady Blue Devils will host first place Claysburg-Kimmel Thursday. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.
Junior Varsity
Shalee Hunter scored 10 points; all in the second half, to lead the Lady Blue Devils to a 45-20 win in the junior varsity game. Lauren Lender added nine points, including two 3-pointers. Chelsea Price led Mount Union with six points.
Bellwood Antis 53 Mount Union 34
MOUNT UNION – T. Price 7 1-3 15, Corbin 4 3-3 11, Stewart 1 1-2 3, Atherton 1 1-4 3, Moore 0 0-0 0, Walters 0 0-1 0, C. Price 0 0-0 0, Worthy 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 13 8-15 34.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Smith 5 2-2 13, Lechner 1 0-0 2, Webb 1 0-0 2, Erickson 2 0-0 4, Carter 12 3-5 27, Parson 0 0-0 0, Lombardo 1 1-2 3, Hunter 1 0-0 2, Riley 0 0-0 0, Lender 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 6-9 53.
Score by Quarters
Mount Union 11 7 8 8 34
Bellwood-Antis 11 11 17 14 53
Three-point goals: Mount Union: None. Bellwood-Antis 1 (Smith).
Mount Union 20 Bellwood-Antis 45 (Junior Varsity)
MOUNT UNION – Walters 2 0-0 5, Corson 1 0-0 2, C. Price 2 2-4 6, Moore 1 3-5 5, Worthy 1 0-0 2, Emery 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 7 5-9 20.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Webb 2 1-2 5, Lender 3 1-4 9, Young 3 0-0 6, Lombardo 2 3-4 7, Hunter 3 4-4 10, Wilt 3 0-0 6, Shultz 1 0-0 2, Whiteman 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 9-14 45.
Score by Quarters
Mount Union 5 4 3 8 20
Bellwood-Antis 10 13 7 15 45
Three-point goals: Mount Union 1 (Walters). Bellwood-Antis 2 (Lender 2).
