Basketball

Blue Devils shine on special night

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

BELLWOOD -- With a larger-than-usual crowd on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973-1974 Bellwood-Antis boys basketball team's 22-0 regular season, the current group of Blue Devils were inspired to put on their best performance of the season in a 77-54 victory over a nine-win Juniata Valley squad Friday.

"We talked about (the '73-'74 team being in attendance)," Bellwood-Antis coach Tyler Mertiff said. "It was nice to honor them, and we strive to play the way they did back in the day and have that kind of success."

The Blue Devils scored the first 10 points of the game and never looked back. Anthony Caracciolo scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the first quarter to put Bellwood up, 21-4.

The victory was the third in 12 games and first since a 2-2 start to the season.

"It went exactly how we wanted," Mertiff said. "I have felt so bad for the kids. They have been working so hard all year, and the results just haven't been there. We got the monkey off our back scoring-wise, and the kids really deserve it."

Caracciolo started the season hot but has been in a bit of a shooting slump lately. That came to an abrupt halt Friday night as he drained eight 3-pointers, bringing the crowd to its feet several times. Many of his shots put an end to Juniata Valley's attempts to get back into the game.

"I have to do my best to remain positive," Juniata Valley coach Bill Lightner said. "I have a good group of players, but it just doesn't seem like right now that they are hustling. Maybe I'm being a little too easy on them. We're a better team than this. We're going to have to put more work in at practice to get the team clicking again. It just doesn't seem like we're clicking. These last two nights have been rough with not hustling and not boxing out. You're not going to win basketball games that way."

The Green Hornets did not score their first points of the game until Connor Robinson's layup with 3:37 to play in the first quarter and turned the ball over several times on offensive fouls.

Chance Schreier narrowly missed a double-double for the Blue Devils with eight points and 10 rebounds, plenty of those coming on hustle plays.

Robinson finished with a team-high 18 points for Juniata Valley, which fell to 9-4. Chris Deihl added 13 points for the Hornets, who also got eight points and 10 rebounds from Charlie Mattas.

"The ceiling is really high (for our team), and I think that's sometimes our problem," Lightner said. "I think sometimes we come in maybe a little overconfident. These boys have been playing together forever. There's no reason that dysfunction should be out on the court, but as a coach, I have to do better myself too at bringing them together, switching defenses and calling offense. Give Bellwood credit. They are a well-coached team and hustled like crazy."

Last season, Bellwood-Antis started off slow before a late-season winning streak left the Blue Devils just outside of the playoffs. Though the schedule is daunting the rest of the way, the Blue Devils are hopeful Friday's game is a turning point.

"We're hoping," Mertiff said. "Obviously we have some great opponents coming up in BG, Central and Tyrone, but hopefully we can instill confidence in the team, and I think wins like this can do that."

JUNIATA VALLEY (54): Deihl 4 2-4 13, Robinson 8 2-3 18, Chavez 2 2-2 8, Rand 1 1-2 3, Mattas 2 2-4 8, Beck 1 0-0 2, LeCrone 0 0-0 0, Cook 1 0-0 2, Norris 0 0-0 0, Castaneda 0 0-0 0, Spurlin 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 19 9-15 54.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (77): Caracciolo 12 0-0 32, Bardell 6 0-0 14, H. Schreier 0 1-2 1, C. Schreier 2 4-4 8, Cacciotti 0 0-0 0, Dickinson 4 0-0 8, Shanafelt 2 0-0 5, Fatzinger 3 2-4 8, Gibbons 0 0-0 0, Gottshall 0 1-2 1, Shedlock 0 0-0 0, Dorminy 0 0-0 0, Mayes 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 29 8-12 77.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Juniata Valley 8 8 19 19 -- 54

Bellwood-Antis 21 17 23 16 -- 77

3-point goals: Juniata Valley 7 (Deihl 3, Chavez 2, Mattas 2); Bellwood-Antis 11 (Caracciolo 8, Bardell 2, Shanafelt).

Records: Juniata Valley (9-4); Bellwood-Antis (3-9).

Officials: Neil Cobaugh, Cliff Kitner, Cory Windmar.

JV: Juniata Valley, 44-39. High scorers--Jackson Dorminy, BA, 14; Kyler Spurlin, JV, 9.