Trending
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
JOHNSTOWN -- A young Bellwood-Antis team entered this year's District 6 Class 2A basketball tournament as just the sixth seed in the field, but as it has all season, Bellwood exceeded expectations.
Bellwood -- which starts four underclassmen -- punched its ticket into next Friday's first round of the PIAA playoffs by securing the fourth and final state-qualifying spot out of the District 6 tournament.
Bellwood gave top-seeded Bishop McCort a good battle for over three quarters in the consolation game for third place Thursday night, before the Lady Crushers pulled away late in the fourth period and racked up a 61-49 victory at McCort High School's Bradley Center gymnasium.
Bellwood (15-10) will play WPIAL champion Greensburg Central Catholic in the first round of the PIAA playoffs, while McCort (24-2) will play WPIAL runner-up Sierra Catholic. Both games will be played next Friday at District 7 sites.
Greensburg Central Catholic won the WPIAL championship game Thursday, 62-41 over Sierra Catholic.
Bellwood crashed the state playoff field with an upset of third-seeded Penns Manor in the first round of the District 6 playoffs, and lost in the semifinals to second seed Portage, setting up Thursday's consolation game.
"I don't think many people thought we could go this far this year, but the only thing that matters is what our girls are thinking every time they're in the gymnasium,'' first-year Bellwood coach Kylee Longo said. "We have a young team, but the players have worked together every day all season, and every game is a steppingstone for us to get to where we want to be.''
Bellwood placed three players in double figures, led by junior Jenna Norton's 13 points. Junior Leigha Clapper and sophomore Lilly Gerwert scored 10 apiece for the Lady Blue Devils, who scored seven straight points to take a 9-8 lead after one quarter, and held a 20-15 advantage on senior Lainey Quick's second-quarter bucket.
McCort, led by star senior guard Gianna Gallucci's game-high 26 points, rallied to go ahead, 31-28 at halftime, and a solid third quarter left the Lady Crushers in the driver's seat, 50-42, after three periods.
"McCort is a good ballclub, and any time that you get a chance to play McCort, you want to play hard, and I think that we did that tonight,'' Longo said.
McCort, which also got 12 points from sophomore Ava Zucco and 11 from junior Elle Berkebile, closed the second quarter on a 16-8 run and that was highlighted by Gallucci's steal and go-ahead layup, a steal and layup by Berkebile, two consecutive field goals by Zucco, and a field goal on a Gallucci jumper.
McCort carried the third quarter, 19-14, and started the stanza strong, building a 39-31 advantage on Zucco's driving bucket, a layup by junior Cami Beppler after a Bellwood turnover, another layup by Berkebile, and Zucco's bucket off an inside feed from Berkebile.
Gaining some separation early in the third quarter was important for the Lady Crushers, who suffered an upset loss to eventual district champion Marion Center in Monday's semifinal round.
"We struggled for the last two days in practice -- it took a couple of days for the girls to flush that loss,'' veteran McCort coach John Hahn said. "We knew that we had to come out of this game tonight with the third (place finish), and this is going to help us.
"The first three minutes in the third quarter was going to be huge -- we played extremely well, we shot the ball, we rebounded well, and we cut down on our turnovers in the third quarter,'' Hahn added. "Bellwood has a nice team.''
Gallucci concurred with Hahn's assessment about how important bouncing back in Thursday's game was to the Lady Crushers.
"We knew coming in off that tough loss that we had to step it up tonight,'' she said. "We really needed this win. We toughed it out and we played as a team, and I think that showed tonight.''
Even so, feisty Bellwood would not go away quietly. Gerwert's inside bucket off an assist from Clapper pulled Bellwood to within striking distance, 50-44, midway through the fourth quarter, before Gallucci helped McCort to pull away again.
Gallucci scored a running layup, then came up with the ball on a scramble in the key and scored another field goal. She was fouled during that scrum, and hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play and give McCort a 55-44 lead.
Bellwood got a game-high 14 rebounds from Gerwert, while McCort was led in rebounding by Gallucci's seven.
A tough, determined mindset has enabled Bellwood to get this far in the postseason, and Longo served notice that her upstart B-A team will continue to play with that type of intensity in the state playoffs.
"At this point, everything is lose and go home,'' Longo said. "We're willing to be aggressive. We know that we can hang with any team that steps out in front of us.''
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (49): Clapper 3 3-4 10, Norton 5 2-2 13, Quick 3 0-0 7, Hammond 1 2-4 4, Gerwert 4 2-2 10, Cacciotti 2 0-0 5, Bardell 0 0-0 0. Totals - 18 9-12 49.
BISHOP MCCORT (62): Gallucci 9 7-7 26, Zucco 6 0-2 12, Beppler 1 0-0 2, Berkebile 4 2-2 11, Kar. Bailey 1 3-4 5, Kal. Bailey 1 0-0 3, Ferguson 1 0-0 2, Preuss 0 0-0 0. Totals - 23 12-15 61.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 9 19 14 7--49
Bishop McCort 8 23 19 11--61
3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 4 (Clapper, Norton, Quick, Cacciotti); Bishop McCort 3 (Gallucci, Berkebile, Kal. Bailey).
Records: Bellwood-Antis (15-10); Bishop McCort (24-2).
Officials: Keith Fry, Ab Dettorre, Drew Civis.