Basketball

With open arms: Backups welcome opportunity to play in BG’s rout of B-A

BELLWOOD -- Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic senior Torin Robertson took an inbounds pass and drilled a contested 3-pointer from the corner with time running out in the Marauders' game against Bellwood-Antis Friday night.

The players on Bishop Guilfoyle's bench jumped to their feet screaming and cheering for Robertson, who had a big smile on his face.

In the grand scheme of the game, the shot may have not meant much. The Marauders held the Blue Devils to just five second half points in a 66-25 victory. But it was a nice moment for Robertson, who puts in just as much time and work in practice and players who play every night, even if it wasn't supposed to happen.

"Well, he wasn't supposed to shoot it in that situation... but we are big on preaching about being happy for other players," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Ryan Lestochi said. "We talk about supporting other players and wanting other guys to do well. That's that concept coming through to fruition."

Along with Robertson, Bishop Guilfoyle used the second half to get minutes for fellow seniors Tyson Rehm and Kurt Ruggery along with young players like Troy Ruggery, Grant Okonak and Parker White, who all run sprints, learn plays and practice against the starters in practice to help make lopsided victories like Friday's game possible.

"It's super important (to get them minutes)," Lestochi said. "We value those kids regardless of their playing time. We always make sure they are treated and coached like everyone else. They are a big part of the team."

Bellwood-Antis has seven seniors that play a lot of minutes, and coach Tyler Mertiff has to balance making sure those kids get the opportunity they have worked the past four years for and also keep an eye on the future of the program.

"I lose seven seniors," Mertiff said. "They all contribute. You don't want to lose like this, but it does get valuable minutes in varsity action. That builds them up. Next year, we're going to be young, and this can help teach valuable lessons for next year."

One of Mertiff's returning players, junior Holden Schreier, led the Blue Devils with 13 points and added seven rebounds.

Bellwood-Antis played a relatively competitive first half and was in a position to have played BG even closer than the 39-20 deficit it faced midway through the game.

"We had wide open looks in the first half," Mertiff said. "We ran what we wanted to run, and we were wide open. We have to hit those. We're a team that if we're missing, we seem to miss a lot. We can't break that. Unfortunately tonight we couldn't get that done."

Meanwhile, the Marauders were coming at Bellwood-Antis waves. Jude Haigh provided his normal spark with a game-high 16 points, Nick Foor got hot from outside and made four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points and Hamilton Gates had several steals that turned into 10 points.

"We always like to come out, pressure the ball, be intense, play hard and we feel like if we do that, we'll be in a good situation," Lestochi said. "We started the way we intended to."

The schedule doesn't lighten up for the Blue Devils, who play at Central and at Hollidaysburg next week, but expect B-A to leave it all on the floor.

"We're not going to quit," Mertiff said. "I don't care what our record is at the end of the year. That's what I love about this team. We don't care what our record is, we'll give everyone a fight from start to finish. If the score ends up in our favor, great, but if not, we know we battled."

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (66): Lestochi 1 2-2 5, Haigh 6 2-2 16, Tr. Rehm 2 4-4 8, Gates 5 0-0 10, Consiglio 2 2-3 6, J. Kissell 0 0-0 0, C. Kissell 1 0-0 2, Foor 4 0-0 12, T. Ruggery 0 0-0 0, K. Ruggery 1 0-1 2, Robertson 2 0-0 5, Ty. Rehm 0 0-0 0, Okonak 0 0-0 0, White 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 24 10-12 66.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (25): H. Schreier 6 0-0 13, C. Schreier 0 0-0 0, Shanafelt 0 0-0 0, Bardell 1 0-0 3, Caracciolo 1 0-0 3, Dickinson 0 1-2 1, Dorminy 1 0-0 3, Fatzinger 1 0-0 2, Gibbons 0 0-0 0, Gottshall 0 0-0 0, Shedlock 0 0-0 0, Mayes 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 10 1-2 25.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 21 18 19 8 -- 66

Bellwood-Antis 8 12 2 3 -- 25

3-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 8 (Foor 4, Haigh 2, Lestochi, Robertson); Bellwood-Antis 4 (H. Schreier, Bardell, Cacciotti, Dorminy).

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (12-2); Bellwood-Antis (4-12).

JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 52-23. High scorers--Colin Gibbons, BA, 7; Parker White, BG, 19.