Christmas came early for Bellwood-Antis head coach Tim Keech on Saturday night, thanks in part to his squad’s inspired play against its perennial nemesis Bishop Guilfoyle. B-A seniors Ryan Myers and Ricky Shannon played the role of Santa Claus giving their third year head coach his first win, 45-42, over his close friend and BG coach Tim Sullivan.
Much of the early part of the game was dominated by stingy defense from both squads, but it was the Blue Devils that were able to set the tone early. Their always-tough man-to-man scheme was able to hold the Marauders to just 4 points in the first stanza. However, B-A’s shooting struggles only allowed 8 points for themselves after the opening eight minutes.
The Marauders came to life in the second quarter. Kasey Toomey came off the bench and seemed to jump-start the BG offense with his penetration and pull-up shooting, single handedly getting BG back into the game. Bellwood’s Ricky Shannon led the counter attack. The Devils’ point guard scored 8 points in the last 4 minutes of the first half, including a pull-up jumper in the lane that beat the buzzer and sent B-A to the locker room with a 21-20 advantage.
The third quarter went back and forth the entire time with the teams headed to the final 8 minutes with the Blue Devils clinging to a one-point lead.
Down the stretch Bellwood’s Ricky Shannon and Ryan Myers took control. Myers dominated the boards, both offensively and defensively, pulling a total of 11 rebounds and recording 8 second-chance points. Shannon continued to be the leader of the Blue Devil offense. The 5’9″ senior controlled the tempo of the entire game, but was especially effective in the 4th quarter, getting the ball up the floor and allowing the Devils to set up their offense against the Marauder full court press.
Nevertheless, BG was able to keep themselves in the game, thanks in large part to the shooting of senior guard Tom Forr. BG clung to a one-point lead with 0:33 left before Bellwood’s Dan Smith put the final nail in BG’s coffin. The 5’10” senior guard drove down the lane and pulled up, hitting a jump shot that put the Blue Devils up to stay. Up to that point, Smith had been 0-7 shooting from the field. “If there is one kid you want taking that shot, it’s Danny!”
“He has no conscience. He can miss seven in a row and still have the confidence to keep shooting,” quipped a joyful Keech.
Ricky Shannon then hit 2 huge free throws on a 1-and-1 that put Bellwood up by 3 with 5 seconds left. BG got a 3-point attempt off at the buzzer, but it fell short, as the Blue Devil came away with a 45-42 thrilling victory over their long-time rivals.
According to head coach Tim Keech, “Ricky Shannon controlled the game. He’s the most athletic kid on the entire team. That’s all natural – it has nothing to d with coaching!”
With the hard-earned victory, BA improves to 6-0 and looks ahead to a road game with rival Juniata Valley on Wednesday evening.
Junior Varsity
In jayvee action, BG defeated Bellwood by the score of 40-37. Paul “Shaq” Greiner lead the way with 12 points.
Bellwood-Antis 45 Bishop Guilfoyle 42
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (42) Sharbaugh 0 0-0 0, Forr 3 0-0 7, Mathis 2 2-4 6, Pacifico 1 1-2 3, Stoehr 3 0-0 7, DeStefano 1 2-2 4, Miller 2 0-0 4, Toomey 4 3-3 11. TOTALS 16 8-11 42
BELLWOOD-ANTIS: Carlson 4 0-0 8, Crider 1 0-0 2, Myers 6 0-2 12, Shannon 6 4-4 17, Smith 1 1-2 3 Weiand 0 1-2 1, Greiner 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 19 6-10 45
Score by Quarters:
Bishop Guilfoyle 4 16 9 13 – 42
Bellwood-Antis 8 13 9 15 – 45
Three-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 2 (Stoehr 1, Forr 1); Bellwood-Antis 1 (Shannon 1)
