Blue Devils overpower Pirates in second half
Strong third quarter guides B-A to ICC victory
Padula wants the ball
December 22, 2016
B-A senior Joe Padula said the Blue Devils’ sputtering performance in the second quarter last night against Williamsburg had several culprits to blame.
“It was partially them and partially us,” said Padula, who led B-A with 19 points. “They made some shots, but we could have defended them a lot better.”
The Blue Devils let a first-quarter lead slip away before dominating the third quarter in a 71-53 victory over Williamsburg at the Bellwood-Antis high School gymnasium.
The Devils jumped ahead 21-15 after the first quarter before hitting a shooting slump in the second, just as the Pirates started to gain their footing. B-A trailed 36-31 at the break.
“We played three quarters last night, which is better than what we have been playing in recent games,” said B-A coach Brent Gerwert. “The first quarter went well, but the second quarter we had a lot of mental errors with turnovers and defensive mistakes. We corrected them in the second half and were able to pull away.”
Padula helped lead the rally, scoring nine points in the third.
“I was not overly concerned at halftime with being down,” Coach Gerwert said. “They had two players who shot very well in the second quarter and I figured they would not be able to repeat their hot shooting in the second half. To our credit, though, the boys did a much better job defensively and played very well in the second half. We played as a team and the rest took care of itself.
Padula was joined in double figures by three other Blue Devils: Trent Walker scored 15, while Ethan McGee and Jarrett Taneyhill each netted 11.
Taneyhill said he would like to see the team put together a full 32 minutes.
“In the second half, we played with more intensity and focus,” he said. “We need to put four quarters together. When we get leads, we tend to lose focus and let teams hand around.”
B-A improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the ICC. The Devils will next play in Tyrone over the Christmas Break in the Northern Blair County Kiwanis Tournament.
