The Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils were as cold as the temperatures this January in the first half at Mount Union, on Wednesday night, scoring just six points in the opening quarter and 12 more in the second to trail the Lady Trojans 9-6 and 22-18 at the end of the first two quarters.
“We came out a little sluggish in the first quarter,” explained Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich. “Then although we played a lot better in the second quarter, our shots just weren’t falling.”
Bellwood-Antis came out of the gate in the second half, with Rachel Meredith getting the offense started, as warm as toast just out of the toaster, to post a 23-10 scoring advantage in the third quarter and then kept pilling on the points taking the final stanza as well by a 19-14 margin to post a 60-46 victory over Mount Union.
“In the second half, we came out real well,” described Lovrich. “We made a few little adjustments on our press. We turned the pressure up and forced some turnovers. Plus our shots started going in. Our kids showed a lot of character. We played within ourselves and didn’t allow Mount Union to take us out of our game plan in what was a really physical game.”
Stephanie Hatch led all scorers with 21 points for the Lady Blue Devils. Katie Gardner added 14 points, Ashley Edevane 10 points and Rachel Meredith had eight points to balance the offensive attack for Bellwood-Antis.
“Rachel Meredith got us started in the third quarter by hitting back-to-back baskets to get us rolling,” said Lovrich. “Rachel also did a terrific job on defense. We had her guard their point guard and Rachel held her scoreless.”
The Lady Blue Devils improve to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in the second cycle of the Juniata Valley League.
Jamie Enders led Mount Union with 17 points.
“Mount Union has improved a lot since we played them the first time,” said Lovrich. “They are young. But they are really big, which always helps. They have been improving every game.”
Bellwood-Antis is off until Monday, when the Lady Blue Devils host Penns Valley. The junior varsity game will start at 6 p.m. and the varsity contest will begin at 7:30.
Junior Varsity
The Bellwood-Antis junior varsity defeated Mount Union 38-23 for their fourth win in the last five games.
Jenna Ralston led the Lady Blue Devils (5-8) with 16 points.
Bellwood-Antis 60 Mount Union 46
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Sprankle 1 0-1 2, Edevane 4 0-0 10, Hatch 8 3-6 21, Meredith 4 0-0 8, Gardner 6 2-4 14, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0, Carter 2 0-0 4, Smith 0 0-0 0, Ridgeway 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 25 6-11 60.
MOUNT UNION – Enders, 3 9-11 17, Price 0 0-0 0, Corbin 4 3-4 13, Brown 3 0-0 6, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Eaton 2 2-2 6, Green 1 0-0 2, Wilkinson 0 0-0 0, Melynik 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 14 14-17 46.
Score by Quarters
Bellwood-Antis 6 12 23 19 – 60
Mount Union 9 13 10 14 – 46
Three point goals: Bellwood-Antis 4 (Edevane 2, Hatch 2).
Mount Union 4 (Enders 2, Corbin 2).
