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Last night, Bellwood-Antis fell in the District 6 2A semifinals to the Blarisville Bobcats by a score of 44-37 at Central Cambria High School, ending the Lady Devils’ hopes for a District championship season.

It was a contrast in styles for high-scoring B-A from the beginning. The Lady Blue Devils’ biggest opportunity came in the first quarter when the Bobcats came out to a slow start and scored only three points, but BA couldn’t hit shots and put up only 8.

Blairsville would take the lead before the end of the half with a score of 13-11, a typical score for one quarter.

“I don’t think anyone expects to have an off night shooting the basketball.  Our kids are all shooters and you don’t go from being a great shooting team to a bad shooting team overnight,” said B-A assistant coach Kyley Longo-McGarvey.  “Shooting is like learning to ride a bike, you practice it enough and you know how to do it the rest of your life.  I think more than anything offensively, we allowed them to play their game at their tempo, which caused us not to get in our typical shooting rhythm.”

B-A shot 18% in the first half, and things wouldn’t get any better in the second. Blairsville went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter that would give them a 10 point lead. Ten points may not seem like a lot, but against a team that plays a slow paced game like the Lady Bobcats it becomes increasingly hard to score when their holding the ball.

The Lady Blue Devils cut the lead multiple times in the fourth quarter, but a few costly turnovers and then foul shots for the Bobcats sealed the win.

Bellwood-Antis sophomore Alli Campbell had a game high 25 points and added 7 rebounds to her totals, Alli would be the only player to reach double digit scoring with the next highest scoring player being Sakeria Haralson with 5 points and 12 rebounds.

The Devils would only make 11 of their 47 shot attempts from the field and only two of their eleven shots from deep.

“The loss is certainly disappointing, just like any other loss would be.  However, we are still in it,” said Coach Longo-McGarvey.  “If you have to get a loss, now is the time to do it. Now, it is time for us to start our win streak over again.  Certainly we wanted to end the year with an ICC and district title, and so far we are 1-for-2 on those goals.  However it is still very much a goal of ours to make it to and win a state title.”

BA will now play on Thursday night in a consolation game against Penns Manor, and will still play in the first round of the PIAA state tournament. The top four teams from District 6 2A advance, so Thursday’s game will be to determine seedings.

Coach Longo-McGarvey said she believed the loss in the semis could be something that brings the Lady Devils, which fell to 22-3, closer together.

“One of my favorite quotes is from John Wooden,” she said. “‘You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships until both have been tested by adversity.” I think we are going to find out what we are made of through all of this as individuals and a team, both on and off the court.”