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WILLIAMSBURG -- The Bellwood-Antis and Williamsburg boys basketball teams play two completely contrasting styles.
The Blue Devils are very meticulous on offense, while the Blue Pirates want to play a track meet style.
Bellwood wasted no time imposing its will on the game as the Devils seized complete control midway through the opening quarter, and never looked back in earning a 49-30 victory over Williamsburg on Monday night.
"We are two different types of teams," Bellwood-Antis coach Tyler Mertiff said. "We were obviously in the ICC (Inter-County Conference) for so long that we kind of know how a lot of these teams play. With back-to-back games against Juniata Valley and Williamsburg -- they are averaging 80-90 points a game. I coach defense because I believe in this area that defense wins championships. These kids bought in all year to that. I told them these are two of the biggest tests we have, and in my opinion, defense is what wins our games. That's what we proved tonight."
The Pirates had an early 3-2 lead on a layup by Logan Brantner, but the Blue Devils got rolling and there was no deterring them from what they wanted to do on both sides of the floor.
Bellwood-Antis got a driving layup from Conner Bardell at 4:57 to give it the lead for good at 4-3.
The Bardell bucket was the first two points of an 11-0 run as five points from Anthony Caracciolo and four more from Holden Schreier staked B-A to a 13-3 advantage.
"You can put this one on me," Williamsburg coach Jeff Detwiler said. "I feel like our guys weren't ready to go tonight. That's on me as a coach. We've got to get these guys ready and we weren't ready, so that's on me."
A Brantner 1-for-2 showing from the foul line gave Williamsburg its last points of the opening stanza. Caracciolo, who finished with 17 points, buried a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds to go to give Bellwood a 16-4 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Two inside makes from Rowan Gorsuch were all the Williamsburg offense could get to fall in the second quarter.
However, the Blue Pirates aggressive driving to the hoop earned them plenty of trips to the foul line in the quarter as they attempted 12 from five different players.
Unfortunately, for Williamsburg, it was only able to cash in on 3-of-12 chances to make it a 5-for-16 showing in the first half.
"It was one of those nights where we just couldn't put the ball in the basket. I hope we don't have many of those nights," Detwiler said. "Give credit to Bellwood, they played great defensively. Then every time we maybe made a shot or two in a row, they answered back. They were ready to go -- they were well prepared."
While the Pirates weren't doing themselves any favors, the Blue Devils were taking advantage at the opposite end as Schreier and Caracciolo combined to score all 15 points in the second.
Schreier, who led all scorers with 23 points, tallied 10 of those in the frame including a coast-to-coast layup at 1:26 to give his team its largest lead of the night of 22 points (31-9).
"All year, we have Anthony -- you know he's going to get us 15-20 (points), "Mertiff said. "... We joke all the time like 'Anthony is it OK if Holden shoots the ball'. They laugh about it because they are not selfish. ... It's so great to coach teams like this. Our record doesn't indicate it but we're a heck of a team."
One free throw apiece from Jesse Brumbaugh and Gorsuch made the score 31-11 at halftime.
Williamsburg came charging out of the locker room with a 6-0 run on layups by Brumbaugh and two from Brantner, who was the lone Blue Pirate in double figures with 13.
After several turnovers and missed shots, Schreier would finally get B-A on the board with his third trey of the night at 5:15 to make the score 34-17.
Leading 38-20 after the third, Martin Fatzinger delivered his only bucket of the night off a pick-and-roll pass to give Bellwood another 20-point lead.
"Offensively, all their sets they (Bellwood-Antis) ran well," Detwiler said. "They knew exactly what they were doing, they knew exactly where to go, they knew when we switched who the open guy was going to be. They were well prepared, so give credit to Coach Mertiff there."
A Gorsuch jumper and 3-pointer from Brantner got WHS as close as it would get the rest of the way at 15 (40-25) with 4:48 left to play.
Bellwood-Antis got close on a 9-5 spurt to move to 4-9 on the year, while Williamsburg fell to 10-2.
"When you make teams that want to run up and down earn everything they get -- it takes a lot out of you," Mertiff said. "... When you buy into the game plan -- and these kids have all year. But it's benefiting us late in the season which is really good to see."
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (49): Caracciolo 6 3-6 17, Bardell 2 0-0 4, H. Schreier 8 4-5 23, C. Schreier 0 0-0 0, Cacciotti 0 0-0 0, Shanafelt 1 1-2 3, Dickinson 0 0-0 0, Fatzinger 1 0-0 2, Gottshall 0 0-0 0, Gibbons 0 0-0 0, Dorminy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 8-13 49.
WILLIAMSBURG (30): Isenberg 0 0-4 0, Brantner 5 2-6 13, Brumbaugh 2 1-2 5, Gorsuch 3 1-2 7, Parks 0 1-2 1, Reffner 0 1-4 1, Zehner 1 0-0 3, Mock 0 0-0 0, Keith 0 0-0 0, Ranalli 0 0-0 0, Houck 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-20 30.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 16 15 7 11 -- 49
Williamsburg 4 7 9 10 -- 30
3-point field goals: Bellwood-Antis 5 (H. Schreier 3, Caracciolo 2); Williamsburg 2 (Brantner, Zehner).
Records: Bellwood-Antis (4-9); Williamsburg (10-2).
JV: Bellwood-Antis won 38-22. High scorers — Jackson Dorminy, BA, 13; Ethan Reffner, W, 14.