The Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils came out strong against Hanover in the first round of the Lady Blue Devil Classic, but with two minutes left in the first quarter their offense went back on Christmas break for the rest of the game.
The Hawkettes held Bellwood-Antis to four points in both the second and third quarters and won the game 41-30.
Lauren Carter made things look easy in the early going with two baskets from short range to give the Lady Blue Devils a 4-0 advantage, and after a Hanover timeout, Jamie Smith nailed a three-pointer to stretch the lead to seven.
Bellwood-Antis held the Hawkettes scoreless until Corey Finch made a jump shot with 2:48 left to play in the first quarter.
Stephanie Hatch answered with the second of four Bellwood-Antis three-pointers to give the Lady Blue Devils an eight point lead, but soon after Bellwood-Antis’ shooters went cold.
“We had shots, but we just didn’t finish,” Bellwood-Antis head coach Nick Lovrich said.
Hanover scored the final six points of the quarter to cut the lead to two, and Jenna Kincaid tied the game with a layup after neither team scored in the first three minutes of the second quarter.
Forty-five seconds later Kincaid nailed a three-pointer to give the Hawkettes a 13-10 advantage.
On Bellwood-Antis’ next two possessions Smith made one of four free throws. The Lady Blue Devils had 14 free throw attempts in the game compared to Hanover’s three, but only converted on six of them.
Jordan Beans gave the Hawkettes a four point lead with a jump shot, but Hatch nailed a three-pointer to cut Hanover’s lead to one at half time.
Carter made one of two from the free throw line on Bellwood-Antis’ first possession in the second half to tie the game.
Hanover answered with baskets from Kincaid and Finch to give the Hawkettes a 19-15 lead.
Carter got the Lady Blue Devils within one by making a layup while being fouled and hitting the free throw, but while Bellwood-Antis’ shooters remained cold, the Hawkettes began to catch fire.
Finch made a layup; Kincaid made one of two free throws and then a basket of her own, and Tammy Szwoyer added a jump shot. A Bellwood-Antis timeout did not cool down Hanover as Chelsea Kehr and Finch made baskets to give the Hawkettes an 11-0 run and a 30-18 lead after three quarters.
Hatch made a three-point shot to start the fourth quarter and cut Hanover’s lead to nine, but Jamie Fry made a layup to answer for the Hawkettes.
Carter cut the lead to single digits again with a layup, but Finch hit a three-pointer and a layup to give the Hawkettes a commanding 37-23 lead.
Over the next few minutes Bellwood-Antis’ defense held Hanover to only an Ashley Beans layup, but couldn’t take advantage of opportunities on offense.
Lindsey Claar made a layup while being fouled, but missed the free throw. Smith, Jenna Ralston and Allison Sinisi all made only one of two free throws, and Bellwood-Antis found themselves still down by 11.
Another Ashley Beans layup stretched the lead to 13, and Carter scored the last of her team high 12 points on a jumper with six seconds left to make the final score 41-30.
“Hopefully we can start over tomorrow with a clean page,” Lovrich said following the loss.
The Northern Cambria Lady Colts defeated the Moniteau Lady Warriors 50-45 in the other Lady Blue Devil Classic match-up.
Bellwood-Antis will take on Moniteau at 6 p.m. Wednesday, in the consolation game, while the championship game will feature Northern Cambria and Hanover at 7:30 p.m.
Hanover 41 Bellwood-Antis 30
Hanover – Finch 7 0-0 15, Kehr 2 0-0 4, Coppola 1 0-0 2, Kincaid 4 1-3 10, J. Beans 1 0-0 2, Szwoyer 1 0-0 2, Fry 1 0-0 2, A. Beans 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 19 1-3 41.
Bellwood-Antis – Carter 5 2-3 12, Smith 1 2-6 5, Hatch 3 0-0 9, Claar 1 0-1 2, Ralston 0 1-2 1, Sinisi 0 1-2 1, Webb 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 10 6-14 30.
Score by Quarters
Hanover 8 7 15 11 – 41
Bellwood-Antis 10 4 4 12 – 30
Three-point goals: Hanover 2 (Finch 1, Kincaid 1).
Bellwood-Antis 4 (Hatch 3, Smith 1).
