Basketball

Lady Blue Devils use offense, defense to down Dragons

By Matt Michelone

sports@altoonamirror.com

BELLWOOD -- Both sides of the ball proved critical for the Bellwood-Antis girls basketball team in its Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game with Central Wednesday night.

The offense opened things up by burying four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game to reach an early double-digit lead.

Fast forward to the second half and it was their defense making the big plays as the Lady Blue Devils hung on for a 42-35 victory in the matchup over the Lady Dragons at the Bellwood-Antis High School gym.

"We've been focusing really hard on our half-court man, and being able to communicate, and do the things we want to do," Bellwood-Antis coach Kyley Longo said. "Our kids are buying in, and we're certainly aggressive. We wanted to come into the Laurel Highlands and challenge people. We want to be able to compete with these guys. These are the kind of games we want to play."

Chloe Hammond knocked down a pair of those four long balls on her way to scoring a game-high 16 points with her three assists. Lilly Gerwert and Lainey Quick added a 3-pointer each to give the Lady Blue Devils an early 12-2 lead.

Central cut into that deficit as Meghan Diehl buried a 3-pointer of her own to lead the Lady Dragons with nine points as her team trailed 19-7 after the opening stanza.

"It's one of those things where in all the film I watched I thought a 3-2 (zone) would work best, and then they come out and hit four threes in the first two or three minutes," Central coach Blake Over said. "Sometimes you take a gamble on your defensive plan, and it doesn't work."

That comeback continued into the second half. Morgan Knepp came up with a steal for the layup and Bralyn Ellis drew the bonus free-throw to cut the deficit to 10 at 22-12.

Quick, though, gave Bellwood some extra cushion as she took a feed off an inbound pass with around three minutes to play in the half followed, by a last- second bucket for a 27-19 halftime lead.

"I'm certainly proud of our half-court defense," Longo said. "Our offense in the first quarter was outstanding, and that's what bought us some time."

Both sides went back-and-forth in the third as Gerwert added her second 3-ball before Adyson Poet answered to make it 36-30 after three.

Gerwert finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.

The fourth quarter was a stalemate for much of the frame, but an early takeaway from Diehl turned into a layup and a plus-1 to cut the Lady Blue Devils lead down to three.

Quick, however, put her foot down later in the fourth as she drew the extra free throw on a lay-in with just over three minutes remaining.

"She had 10 rebounds, she had several assists, she knew our offense was cold (late in the game)," Longo said. "She took her man, got an and-1 and finished the free-throw."

Over is proud of the progress his team has made defensively to this point in the season, but believes there is more to be made.

"We're still growing and learning how to play defense." He said. "It was just knowing where to be all of the time, when to attack, when to be in help. They're learning every day. They continue to get better and better and they're working really hard."

CENTRAL (35): Poet 1 2-4 7, Diehl 4 0-0 9, Rhykerd 2 0-0 4, Knepp 2 2-2 6, Ellis 1 3-5 5, Dickson 0 0-0 0, Imes 0 2-2 2, Benton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 9-13 35.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (42): Clapper 1 2-2 4, Norton 2 0-0 4, Hammond 5 2-4 16, Quick 3 2-3 9, Gerwert 3 1-2 9, Cacciotti 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 7-11 42.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 7 12 11 5 - 35

Bellwood-Antis 19 8 9 6 - 42

3-point field goals: Central 2 (Poet, Diehl), Bellwood-Antis 7 (Hammond 4, Quick, Gerwert 2)

Records: Central (7-8, 5-6 LHAC), Bellwood-Antis (10-5, 8-3 LHAC).

Officials: Dave Pray, Ray Hoppel, Steve Schaff

JV: Central, 46-28. High scorers: Dickson, C, 8; Dickinson, BA, 7.