Basketball

Lady Marauders hold on in fourth to defeat B-A

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

The new Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference has created some interesting matchups across the area, and Thursday night two of the most successful girls basketball teams over the past decade squared off at Pleasant Valley gymnasium.

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic, on the strength of a dominant third quarter, held on for a 56-50 victory over Bellwood-Antis in a game that left both coaches pleased with their teams.

"Tonight, even our subs that came in, I feel like there isn't much of a drop in our level of play right now," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Kristi Kaack said. "We're excited about the depth that we have to go to."

Alana Lightner had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Morgan Ruggery had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Maurie Querry had 12 points, including two clutch free throws with 23 seconds left after Bellwood-Antis had pulled within four points to help put the game away.

Despite playing with no seniors and just one junior, Kaack had no worries with Querry, a freshman, at the line in a pressure situation.

"The nice part for us is that I'm looking at all the kids we have on the floor, and I feel really good about any one of them stepping up to the line," Kaack said. "We don't feel like we have to have certain people on the floor. Collectively we feel like we can get up there and make pressure shots when we need them."

Bellwood-Antis got 16 points from Chloe Hammond and 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds from Lilly Gerwert and played to a 26-26 tie at the half.

Ruggery's 3-pointer on BG's first possession of the second half set the tone for the third quarter that the Lady Marauders carried, 17-1.

"They came out and put on a 7-0 run, and we didn't answer right away," Bellwood-Antis coach Kyley Longo said. "Sometimes that panic-mode sets in, and it's about having the maturity and toughness of understanding that basketball is a game of runs. How are you going to take it? On the chin, or are you going to come out and swing again? We came out swinging, and we'll get there."

The retaliation punch came in the fourth quarter. After Gia Adams put BG ahead, 51-36, on a jump shot, Bellwood-Antis went on a 13-2 run capped by Hammond's layup with 53 seconds left that made it 53-49.

"Credit to Bellwood," Kaack said. "It was 17-1 in the third quarter, but they came right back out ready to go in the fourth quarter. We just want to see our kids compete at a high level for 32 minutes. We're getting there, we just have a few more steps to take to be more consistent."

Querry made two free throws, and Delaney Lechner added another to help the Lady Marauders hold off the final rally.

"We don't ever come into a game and play a school by the name on the front of their jersey," Longo said. "They are a great ball program. They are very young, and they are going to be really, really good. But we wanted a challenge, and we prepared for a challenge. Listen, you're going to get knocked down and face adversity and get back up from it. I thought our kids handled it well. We had some frustration worrying about whether our shots were falling, but we calmed down and worried about us. After that, everything fell into place. A six-point loss, for us, yeah it's a loss on our record, but we learned more tonight than we would from anything else. For me, this was a great game."

Longo explained that she felt a competitive loss like Thursday's game did more for her team than a 30-point win over a lesser opponent would have accomplished.

"Our kids are getting challenged in every single position," Longo said. "Our kids are in better shape, because they have to be able to go non-stop. They know they have to hit shots with people's hands in our face. We have to be able to get shots off in transition. We have to have a higher basketball IQ and be aware of when the clock is winding down. All of these things will make us battle tested and better in the playoffs."

Kaack's team improved to 17-1. She's hoping to see more of the play her Lady Marauders showcased in the third quarter.

"We asked them to be a little more patient on the offensive end," Kaack said. "I felt like we were coming down and shooting the ball really quickly, and we didn't like the quality of shots we were getting. In the third quarter, we were more patient. We got out in transition more and got layups rather than contested shots."

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (50): C. Hammond 4 5-8 16, Clapper 3 0-0 7, Gerwert 3 4-8 11, Norton 1 2-2 4, Quick 1 2-4 5, Cacciotti 2 1-2 7, Waite 0 0-0 0. Totals -- .

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (56): Querry 3 4-6 12, Ruggery 4 5-6 13, Petrecca 1 0-0 2, Yeskey 0 0-0 0, Lightner 7 0-0 14, Adams 2 0-0 5, Gofus 0 3-4 3, Lechner 1 1-2 4, Homan 1 0-0 3. Totals -- .

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 12 14 1 23 -- 50

Bishop Guilfoyle 13 13 17 13 -- 56

3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 8 (C. Hammond 3, Cacciotti 2, Clapper, Gerwert, Quick); Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Querry 2, Adams, Lechner, Homan).

Records: Bellwood-Antis (11-6); Bishop Guilfoyle (17-1).

JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 51-33. High scorers--Hannah Homan, BG, 12; Peyton Hammond, BA, 11.