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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
MARTINSBURG -- There's an old sports adage that holds that it is very difficult for any team to beat another team three times in a season.
The Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils managed to pull off that feat in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference girls basketball game with Blair County rival Central Wednesday night at the Central High School gymnasium, but Bellwood needed a big jump out of the starting blocks in order to do it.
Bellwood (9-9 overall, 8-7 in the Laurel Highlands Conference), burst out to a 16-5 lead early in the second quarter and held serve the rest of the way for a 55-46 victory on Central's senior night.
"I think we got off to a good start tonight,'' Bellwood coach Kyley Longo said. "We were aggressive, we moved the ball well, and we rebounded the ball well, particularly on the defensive end, in the first half.''
Junior center Lilly Gerwert scored a game-high 27 points and collected a game-high 13 rebounds for Bellwood, scoring eight points in the first quarter and eight more in the second period, including a long 3-pointer from beyond the top of the circle that beat the first-half buzzer, as Bellwood took a 26-17 lead into the intermission.
"This is the third time that we have played them this year, and it's hard to beat any team three times, but we all executed well,'' said Gerwert, whose Lady Devils edged Central, 40-39, earlier this month on Bellwood's home floor after beating the Lady Dragons, 52-44, in the Fred Miller Memorial Tyrone Holiday Tournament in late December.
"It was a good feeling to get the lead, and stick with that lead the whole game,'' Gerwert added.
Central (3-15, 3-11) suffered from ice-cold shooting early in the game. The Lady Dragons made only two of 17 floor shots in the first quarter, and misfired on all eight of their first 3-point attempts in the game.
"We came out slow tonight,'' said Central coach Blake Over, whose team did bounce back to hit 10 3-pointers in the game, including seven in the second half. "They went into a zone (defense), we missed our first eight 3-point shots, and they capitalized.''
Freshman guard Karlie Sweigert chipped in 12 points for Bellwood, which lost starting forward Jenna Norton for the game after she suffered a leg injury in the first quarter.
"It was hard for us losing Jenna early in the game, but we had some freshmen step up for us and we took care of the ball tonight,'' Gerwert said.
After senior guard Marah Dickson -- who led Central with 14 points -- hit a 3-point shot and two free throws to pull the Lady Scarlet Dragons (3-15, 3-11) to within seven points, 35-28, in the third quarter, Bellwood went on a 9-3 run to close the third quarter with a 44-31 lead.
Gerwert drove the baseline for a bucket, senior guard Leigha Clapper made two free throws, and Gerwert -- who made nine of 10 free throws on the night -- hit two from the line, giving Bellwood a 41-28 lead and some separation. Central junior Madeline Benton and Sweigert traded 3-pointers before the third period closed.
Central couldn't get any closer than seven points, 53-46, the rest of the way, and that happened on junior Adyson Poet's 3-point shot with just 52 seconds remaining in the game.
Central converted just 15 of 55 floor shots in the game for a 27.2 percent clip, while Bellwood made 17 of 40 floor shots for 42.5 percent. The Lady Devils were spot-on from the free-throw line, converting 18 of 20, and Bellwood had a 32-25 edge on the boards.
"The Central kids have a lot of heart, and we knew that they were going to be able to make their runs at us, but we were able to keep the lead the whole night,'' Longo said.
Game notes: Dickson and her fellow senior teammates Lyla Imes and Dessa Boyles, along with senior cheerleader Emilee Friedenberger, were honored with their parents in a pre-game ceremony ... Bellwood hosts Central Cambria and Central hosts Westmont Hilltop on Friday night.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (55): Clapper 1 6-6 8, Norton 1 0-0 2, Gerwert 8 9-10 27, Turek 0 0-0 0, Sweigert 5 1-2 12, Sloey 1 2-2 4, Waite 0 0-0 0, Plummer 0 0-0 0. Totals - 17 18-20 55.
CENTRAL (46): Dickson 4 2-2 14, Poet 2 2-2 8, Boyles 1 2-4 4, L. Imes 3 0-0 6, Benton 3 0-0 8, Rhykerd 2 0-0 6, A. Imes 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0. Totals - 15 6-8 46.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 14 12 18 11--55
Central 5 12 14 15--46
3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 3 (Gerwert 2, Sweigert); Central 10 (Dickson 4, Poet 2, Benton 2, Rhykerd 10).
Records: Bellwood-Antis (9-9 overall, 8-7 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Central (3-11, 3-15).
Officials: Clark Adelman, Jack McDougal, Randy Burkett.
JV: No game.