Jones

CRESSON — With Bellwood-Antis down 12 points in the middle of the fourth quarter and trying to put together a huge comeback, coach Tyler Mertiff told himself, ‘Miss it,’ when Penn Cambria’s Brady Jones put up a 3-pointer. Jones had already hit five from long distance in the first three quarters.

It may have been wishful thinking for Mertiff.

Jones hit that one, plus another one in the fourth quarter, to give himself 21 points for the night in leading the Panthers to a 64-49 victory over the Blue Devils Tuesday night in high school basketball action.

“I must have eaten my Cheerios this morning,” Jones said.

Whether it was Cheerios or just a good night shooting, it was a welcomed sight for Penn Cambria (11-5), which has won six of its last seven games.

“We can’t expect seven 3s, but he’s been shooting the ball a lot better,” Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan said. “When the secondary shooters are scoring like that, it does make us a much better team. We need that to beat the really good teams in the league. When they’re shooting that way, we can play with anybody and we can beat a lot of great teams out there.”

The Blue Devils (3-13) may have run into some tough luck with the way Penn Cambria shot the ball with 11 3-pointers, but Mertiff is staying positive.

“These guys beat Johnstown and they’re a really good team,” Mertiff said. “They’re predicated on getting to the paint, which we shut that down. But when they kick it, we have to have them miss a few and tonight they didn’t.”

A lot of the difference in the game was the first quarter, which Penn Cambria led, 21-9. The Panthers hit five treys in the opening period alone — three from Jones, and one each from Blake Lilly and Nick Marshall.

“I always tell him, ‘Brady, we need you to make shots for us to be good,'” Ronan said. “Same thing with Nick Marshall and Blake Nadolsky. They’re starting to get into a little bit of a groove, and it’s making us better.”

“When we’re electric like that and making shots, it gets us going on both sides of the ball,” Jones said. “We feed off each other. We have good chemistry that way.”

Penn Cambria led by as much as 16 points at 25-9 in the first half, but B-A climbed back to within 13 by halftime to make it 32-19 at the break.

Penn Cambria opened the second half on an 11-2 run to give them a 22-point lead. The Blue Devils put together an 8-2 run at the end of the third capped by a Jackson Dorminy 3, but still trailed 50-36.

“We’re still fairly young, but we want to battle until the end,” Mertiff said. “We’re going to get some wins at the end of the season just because of the hard work and the dedication these guys are putting in. We won’t go down without a fight.”

The Blue Devils host Philipsburg-Osceola tonight. Penn Cambria visits Bishop McCort on Friday.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (49): Dorminy 2 1-2 6, Gibbons 0 0-0 0, Shedlock 4 0-0 9, Fatzinger 3 0-0 6, McClellan 2 2-4 8, Leeper 3 0-0 7, McConnell 3 0-0 7, Worthing 0 1-2 1, Litzinger 0 0-0 0, Shanafelt 0 0-0 0, McNelis 0 1-2 1, Schreier 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 2 0-0 4. Totals — 19 5-10 49.

PENN CAMBRIA (64): Gibbons 7 1-1 15, Semelsberger 0 1-2 1, Lilly 2 3-4 8, B. Jones 7 0-0 21, Nadolsky 3 2-2 8, G. Gides 0 0-0 0, Marshall 3 0-0 8, Mallory 0 0-0 0, Himmer 1 0-0 3, Price 0 0-0 0, C. Gides 0 0-0 0, N. Jones 0 0-0 0, Shall 0 0-0 0. Totals — 23 7-9 64.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 9 10 17 13 — 49

Penn Cambria 21 11 18 14 — 64

3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 6 (Dorminy, Shedlock, McClellan 2, Leeper, McConnell); Penn Cambria 11 (Lilly, Jones 7, Marshall 2, Himmer).

Records: Bellwood-Antis (3-13); Penn Cambria (11-5).

JV: Penn Cambria, 60-42. High scorers–Gides, PC, 19; McConnell, BA, 10.

Officials: Jason Moschgat, Steve Yesenoski, Shawn Sinclair