HOLLIDAYSBURG — With the postseason right around the corner for the Hollidaysburg boys basketball team, coach Brad Lear is constantly on the lookout for things the Golden Tigers can improve on.

Bellwood-Antis baskets to end the first and second quarters caught his eye in Wednesday’s 65-32 victory over the Blue Devils.

“I feel like we’re playing better, but we’re never satisfied,” Lear said. “We gave up two baskets, one at the end of the first quarter and one at the end of the second quarter, and I know this is nitpicking, but we can be so good. I feel like it’s my job to be nitpicky. I told them after the game that we have Bishop Carroll coming in here Friday, and those two baskets at the end of quarters could decide the game.”

Lear has been working on helping Hollidaysburg maintain its focus, not just in lopsided games like Wednesday’s, but in close contests, practices and walkthroughs.

“We’re beginning to find the right buttons to push,” Lear said. “The kids are buying into the way we have been practicing lately, and I’m proud of all their efforts. From one game to the next, they don’t know who is going to start. We have really had them buy into basing it off how they practice and how they perform.”

Whatever button Cole Walters pushed against Bellwood-Antis seemed to work.

The senior sharpshooter drilled four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the first quarter alone and finished with a game-high 23 points and seven 3-pointers.

Walters’ success was particularly frustrating to Blue Devils coach Tyler Mertiff.

“Our game plan was to get him off the 3-point line,” Mertiff said. “In my opinion, he’s one of the better 3-point shooters in the area. We came out and didn’t chase him off the line, which was our plan, and it hurt us. Credit to him. He didn’t think about it. He put them up, and they went in — unfortunately for us.”

In Bellwood’s defense, many of Walters’ shots came after scrambles for a rebound that left defenders out of place.

“We have been controlling the glass, and that’s the best time to hit a 3-pointer on an offensive rebound kick out,” Lear said. “They have bought into that. Brady (Steiner) had some open looks but deferred to Cole, because he had the hot hand. When teams go zone, we shoot them out of it a lot, and when we’re shooting like that, we’re pretty hard to stop.”

Hollidaysburg’s Jon Holsopple led all players with 10 rebounds.

Just before halftime, the Golden Tigers went on a 10-1 run capped by Mason Goodman’s breakaway dunk that made it 40-16. Goodman finished with 14 points.

Holden Schreier led the Bellwood-Antis offensive output with 13 points. B-A senior Chance Schreier missed most of the second half after getting his ankle taped on the bench.

The Blue Devils close the season next week with home games against Huntingdon and Philipsburg-Osceola.

“Most coaches would have a tough time keeping their team focused with the record that we have,” Mertiff said. “But these guys come to practice every day and work their butts off. That’s a credit to the Bellwood community and the players I have. We have some winnable games coming up, and hopefully we can put our head down and get our seniors out with some wins that they deserve.”

The senior-led Golden Tigers are trying to stay focused on the present rather than thinking too much about how this is their last ride at the high school level.

“We try not to talk about that,” Lear said. “We put on the board at the start of the season that this is the first of many lasts. They have started to see that. Last time we play Altoona at home. Last time we face (Central’s) Hunter Smith. Last time we get to play (Chestnut Ridge’s) Nate Whysong. We don’t talk about it too much, but we talk about the ‘The Boys of Fall’ and how we don’t have many Friday nights left. We try and focus on the next game up and not the totality of everything and tell them to play every game like it’s our last game to maintain focus.”

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (32): H Schreier 3 7-10 13, C. Schreier 1 0-0 2, Bardell 0 0-0 0, Caracciolo 2 0-0 5, Cacciotti 2 0-0 6, Dickinson 0 0-0 0, Fatzinger 0 0-0 0, Shanafelt 0 0-0 0, Gibbons 1 0-0 2, Shedlock 1 0-0 2, Dorminy 0 0-0 0, Mayes 0 0-0 0, Gottshall 1 0-1 2. Totals — 11 7-11 32.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (65): Steiner 1 1-2 3, Hileman 1 2-2 4, Weimert 3 0-0 6, Walters 7 2-2 23, Goodman 5 3-5 14, Metzger 2 0-0 5, Rhodes 1 1-2 3, Albarano 0 0-0 0, Snyder 1 0-0 2, Kirsch 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Sral 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 23 9-12 65.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 11 7 7 7 — 32

Hollidaysburg 25 15 21 4 — 65

3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 3 (Cacciotti 2, Caracciolo); Hollidaysburg 10 (Walters 7, Goodman, Holsopple, Metzger).

Records: Bellwood-Antis (4-14); Hollidaysburg (13-4).

Officials: Billy Pfeffer, Kevin Laird, Craig Andros.

JV: Hollidaysburg, 59-58, OT. High scorers–Jayden Wolfe, H, 25; Martin Fatzinger, BA, 13.