Any time local archrivals Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis get together, no matter what the event, you can be sure of an interesting time. The fans are sure to be screaming at the top of their lungs for their favorite and the kids get caught up in the atmosphere and history of sports-combat in the past between the two neighboring school districts.
Junior high girls basketball is no different. Tyrone coach Kerry Naylor alluded to it when he remarked earlier in the week about the games being fun, with lots of people in the stands, giving the players something to get up for, no matter what the records of the teams at the time.
The two schools schedule each other in junior high girls basketball the first and last games of the season with that exact purpose in mind.
On Thursday afternoon, at Tyrone, the two programs concluded their seasons with a tight 22-17 decision going to the Lady Blue Devils.
Bellwood-Antis, which finished 12-7 after winning only two games last year with basically the same roster, was led by ninth grader Ashley McAlevy with six points and a pair of seventh graders, Ashley Lechner and Liz Erickson with five points each. Ninth grader Brittany Webb added four points for the Lady Blue Devils.
Tyrone which finished 5-13, was led by ninth grader Stefani Bryan with six points and eighth grader Kayla Corle who added five. Ninth grader Elizabeth Tepsic, and eighth graders Sarah Halter and Brooke Garbinsky each scored two points.
“This was a great junior high game with two teams playing extremely hard,” explained Tyrone coach Kerry Naylor. “You could see there was a lot of pride on the line. Of all the teams we played this year, and we played some good ones, no team was able to impose a style of play on us like B-A did. We wanted a game in the 40s, but got one in the 20s. We threw three different pressure defenses at them, but couldn’t get the tempo in our favor. Steve did a great job with his players. I have a lot of respect for the way he and his players go about their game. There was a great crowd and for them it was definitely a hostile environment. It was an awesome atmosphere.
“The shots just didn’t fall for us today, but this was a year of tremendous improvement for our program. We’ll definitely miss the girls moving up.”
