Lady Blue Devils falter in title game
Slow starts dooms B-A in loss to Forest Hills
Karson Swogger had back-to-back 30-point games in the Forest Hills Tip-Off Tournament.
December 12, 2016
The Lady Blue Devils lost their first game of the season Saturday night as they fell to Forest Hills 67-61 in the championship of the Forest Hills Tip-Off Tournament.
Alli Campbell was named to the all-tournament team along with Karson Swogger.
The loss came on the heels of a huge win Friday when the Lady Devils breezed past Connemaugh Township 87-28. In that one Karson Swogger scored, 30, Alli Campbell neeted 21, and Riley D’Angelo dropped in 10, while the team as a group hit 17 three-pointers.
B-A got off to a rocky start in the first quarter against the Lady Rangers, only scoring seven points and losing their starting forward Makayla Carles for the rest of the first half due to her picking up her third foul with 5:38 left.
Heading into the second quarter the girls were trailing 13-7 and things appeared as if B-A was going to shake off the lackluster first quarter.
However the girls dug themselves a deeper whole going into halftime as Forest Hill increased their six point lead to a sixteen point lead 30-14, hitting six of 12 shots.
Senior Courtney Cecere paced the Lady Rangers offensively with 11 points going into the half.
B-A would not give in though. Within the first two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter Bellwood-Antis cut the lead to four points with a 12-0 run, sparked by intense full-court pressure
Senior Karson Swogger scored nine points in the third, which helped propel the team to a brief one-point lead, but the Lady Devils trailed 38-37 heading into the fourth.
Riley D’Angelo looks to inbound the ball against the Lady Rangers.
Just as B-A started the third on a 12-0 run, Forest Hills started the fourth with a 12-0 run of their own and and gained a 13-point lead with it.
The Blue Devils came within one point two separate times in the fourth but never regained the lead.
Campbell, who scored ten points, fouled out with 2:44 left in the game.
Forest Hills iced the game with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch as they shot 15-of-16 from the charity stripe within the final three minutes.
Swogger finished the contest with 30 points. She and Campbell were both named to the all-tournament team.
The Lady Blue Devils will look to rebound Tuesday night at the Jaffa Mosque when they will be taking on Bishop Mccort
