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By Rick Weaver
For the Mirror
CLYMER -- So much for the anticipated Portage-Penns Manor match-up.
Sixth-seeded Bellwood-Antis limited the Lady Comets to two field goals in the middle two periods, survived a fourth-quarter flurry and secured a 38-25 victory in a District 6 Class 2A girls' basketball playoff game on Thursday night at Penns Manor High School.
The Lady Blue Devils will play second-seeded Portage in a district semifinal game on Monday. Monday's winners play for the district championship at 6 p,m. Thursday at Mount Aloysius College.
"We're excited to see them. They're a good ballclub, they're well-coached, and we're up for the challenge, just like we have been," Bellwood-Antis coach Kyley Longo said. "Our motto all year has been, 'Put your head down and work.' If people don't want to take notice to that, they can sleep on us all night long. We know what we're capable of, and that's what we're going do night in and night out."
All of Thursday's quarterfinal winners have assured themselves berths in the PIAA state playoffs. The Class 2A state playoffs commence on Friday, March 8.
Heritage Conference champion Penns Manor saw its 15-game winning streak come to an end.
Longo took exception to a published report that projected Portage and Penns Manor would meet in the round of four. Her players, as all turned out, spoke for her with a suffocating defense.
"Our kids are disciplined on defense. We work hard offensively," Longo said. "Certainly, the article in the paper motivated us. When the Mirror's jumping straight to Portage and Penns Manor in the semifinal, we take that personally.
"We're coming in here knowing that people might think we're underdogs. So, we're going to play like dogs, instead."
"We know what they want to do, too," B-A junior forward Jenna Norton said. "We know they're aggressive. We know they're fast. We know they can shoot. That's what we're going to focus on."
Bellwood-Antis held Alyssa Altemus and Allie Mumau to a combined total of 15 points.
"We knew their tendencies. We knew what they wanted to do," said Norton, who led all scorers with 13 points. "We were on Altemus, Mumau. We wanted to stop their drives because they are the force of that team. So that's what we focused on all week."
Penns Manor took a 6-5 lead into the second quarter. It was the last time the Lady Comets held the lead. Lilly Gerwert accounted for five of her nine points as part of a run that pushed Bellwood-Antis ahead, 10-7, with 4:10 left before the break.
Sharpshooting junior Summer Fennell hit a 3-pointer that tied the score at 10 with 3:27 to go. That turned out to be the basket she would score the entire night. She was 1 for 8 from beyond the arc.
"We knew they hit those 3s when they draw the defense in. They kick it out and they hit those. So, we needed to stop those," Norton said.
"They did a great job defensively," Miloser said. "We have a number of girls who are capable of stepping up every single game. We've had a different leading scorer in a bunch of different games. But unfortunately, we just couldn't find it on the offensive end tonight."
Penns Manor managed only one basket in the second quarter and was 1 for 11 in the third period as Bellwood-Antis pulled away to 24-13 lead.
"Give credit to Bellwood. They played great defense," Penns Manor coach Jason Miloser. "We knew they were going to be a very good defensive team. We've seen it. They obviously have good size, and they have good athleticism around the perimeter as well."
Penns Manor followed Norton's basket at the start of the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run. Longo saw that coming.
"We knew this was going to be a game of runs. We knew this was going to be game of high and lows," she said. "For us, it's about being mentally tough and controlling the controllables. We don't let those (outside) things fester and live rent-free in our heads."
Mumau, who sat out much of the second quarter after she picked up her third personal foul, put on a personal 6-0 run that drew the Lady Comets within 26-24. She received her fifth personal, however, with 1:52 to go and the Lady Blue Devils ahead 27-24. Bellwood-Antis finished the night on an 11-1 run.
"I was proud of our kids. I thought we made foul shots down the stretch when we needed to. We dominated the glass. We got their big kid (Mumau) fouled out like we wanted to. I thought our kids kept their heads really well. They were patient all night long," Longo said.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (38): Clapper 1 5-6 8, Norton 6 0-0 13, Hammond 0 2-6 2. Quick 1 0-0 3. Gerwert 2:6-9 9, Cacciotti 1 0-0 2, Gummo 0 0-0 0. Totals - 11 11-22 38.
PENNS MANOR (25): Altemus 3 0-0 7, Stiteler 1 4-8 6, Shaffer 0 1-2 1, Fennell 1 0-0 3, Mumau 4 0-1 8, Hadden 0 0-0 0, Bertolino 0 0-0 0. Totals - 9 5-11 25.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Bellwood-Antis 5 8 10 15–38
Penns Manor 6 5 2 12–25
3-point field goals: Bellwood-Antis 3 (Clapper, Norton, Quick), Penns Manor 2 (Altemus, Fennell).
Officials: Clark Adelman, Keith Redford, Chris Walters.
Team records: Bellwood-Antis (15-8), Penns Manor (21-4).