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Bellwood-Antis girls battle past rival Tyrone

BELLWOOD — If they didn’t know before, the Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils certainly should now: They’ve got a target on their backs and are going to get their opponents’ best effort all season.

With four returning starters, Bellwood, the reigning PIAA Class 2A state champion, opened its 2018-2019 season Saturday afternoon and got all it could handle before turning back Tyrone, 67-57, in front of a big crowd at the refurbished B-A gymnasium.

“We’ve got work to do,” B-A coach Jim Swaney said matter-of-factly.

“On the bright side, I don’t know how many games we’re going to have 16 turnovers or how many times we’ll commit that many fouls,” Swaney continued, “and we still found a way to win — that’s to our credit.”

Tyrone, which started two freshmen, trailed 13-7 early, but, sparked by the hot shooting of Sydney Shaw, the Lady Eagles went on a 12-1 run to grab a 19-14 lead after one quarter.

“Tyrone played very hard,” Swaney noted. “They ran their offense very hard and shot the ball extremely well, especially in the first quarter, so give them a lot of credit.”

Bellwood settled down in the second quarter and grabbed a 26-25 halftime lead on a layup by Macy Decker 10 seconds before intermission.

The Blue Devils threatened to pull away, building a 43-32 lead in the third period, but the Eagles regrouped and crept to within 45-40 before Jaydn Shuke’s layup and free throw gave the hosts a 48-40 lead after three.

B-A built a 57-44 margin in the fourth, but Tyrone refused to go away and cut the deficit to 61-55 on Sydney Shaw’s trey with a minute remaining. However, Shaw, who finished with 23 points, fouled out moments later and Bellwood held on, thanks to free throws from Alli Campbell and Emilie Leidig and a putback by Campbell, who wound up with 29 points — 13 in the fourth quarter.

“Our kids find a way to win … that’s what we do,” Swaney said. “We didn’t play our best game, but we found a way to win.”

Campbell, the standout 6-foot-1 junior who has committed to Notre Dame, agreed with her coach.

“It’s a new season,” she said. “Last season is behind us, but we have the same goals. Everybody is coming for us and will give us their best, so we have to be ready.

“We have to put today behind us and get ready for Everett (next Wednesday),” Campbell added.

Besides Campbell’s game-high 29, B-A got 14 points (all but two in the second half) from junior guard Leidig.

“Alli is a great player,” Swaney said, “and I thought Emilie Leidig did a great job. She hit open jumpers, really doubled their weave and came up with a couple nice steals.

“And, for her first varsity start, I was really impressed with Jaydn Shuke,” Swaney offered. “She battled and did a lot of nice things.”

Sydney Shaw scored 23 for Tyrone and the Eagles also received double-digit efforts from freshmen Stephanie Ramsey (13) and Jaida Parker (10).

“I was really proud of Sydney’s effort,” Tyrone coach Luke Rhoades said. “We knew we wanted to play hard and we executed our gameplan.

“This game doesn’t make or break your season,” Rhoades continued, “but it can propel you or set you back. A couple things didn’t go our way, but I was really proud of our effort.”

Tyrone plays Bellefonte and Penns Valley next week.

“We can’t be too down about today,” Rhoades warned, “or it could be a long December.”

TYRONE (57): Syd. Shaw 7 4-5 23, Fusco 1 0-3 2, Ronan 0 0-0 0, Ramsey 3 6-6 13, Parker 4 1-3 10, Johnson 1 1-2 4, Sh. Shaw 2 0-0 5, Welsh 0 0-0 0, Getz 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 12-19 57.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (67): Campbell 10 7-9 29, D’Angelo 2 2-4 8, Leidig 5 2-4 14, Shuke 2 2-3 6, Musselman 1 0-0 2, Haralson 2 2-2 6, Decker 1 0-0 2. Totals — 23 15-22 67.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 19 6 15 17 — 57

Bellwood-Antis 14 12 22 19 — 67

3-point goals: Tyrone 9 (Syd. Shaw 5, Johnson, Sh. Shaw, Ramsey, Parker); Bellwood-Antis 6 (Campbell 2, D’Angelo 2, Leidig 2).

Records: Tyrone (0-1); Bellwood-Antis (1-0).

JV: Tyrone, 57-31. High scorers–Kelsey Johnson, T, 19; Jaden McCracken, B-A, 10.

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