Lady Devils come out on top in first round of Districts
Pre-game hype! (Kaelynn Behrens)
February 23, 2019
The Lady Devils survived a big scare Thursday in their quest to repeat as PIAA 2A champs, as they were taken into overtime in a tight matchup in the opening round of the District 6 playoffs.
Fourth-seeded B-A had to rally in the fourth quarter but eventually overcame No. 5 Bishop McCort 78-76 in overtime, coming back from a 10-point deficit in the second half.
The Lady Devils led the charge through the first half, building a 33-20 lead in the second quarter.
Before going into halftime, Bishop McCort gave B-A a small scare of what would soon come. McCort went on a 9-0 run before halftime and hit a half-court buzzer beater just as time expired. The Lady Crushers trailed just 33-29 at the break.
Coming out after the half, B-A was up by four and needed to defend its lead, but McCort had different plans.
Soon into the third quarter the Crushers took over the lead and took control of the game. McCort took over and scored 22 points to Bellwood’s nine.
Midway through the fourth quarter B-A went to its full-court press to get back in the game, trailing 52-42. Riley D’Angelo hit a foul shot to get the lead into single digits (52-43) while at the same time giving her 1,000 points for her career.
“I knew that was my thousandth point, but I wasn’t really thinking about it then,” saod D’Angelo. “Our comeback was the top priority.”
The Lady Devils still needed a spark, especially after Sakeria Haralson fouled out late in the fourth quarter, and juniors Emilie Leidig and Alli Campbell did just that.
The Lady Devils were down and looking to change that.
Bellwood started cutting away at the McCort lead when Alli Campbell hit a clutch corner 3-pointer the cut the deficit to just one point, and later D’Angelo added a foul shot to make the score 66-63 with 47 seconds left in regulation.
Leidig, who had been hitting big three’s all game, hit the biggest one of the night with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game 66-66.
“When Sakeria fouled out, Alli and I looked at each other and said, ‘We’re still okay,'” said Leidig, who scored 22. “We had to start shooting the ball, and we made some threes.”
Junior Jaydyn Shuke had a glimpse of the win when Campbell made a pass to Shuke under the hoop to win the game but was then fouled as time expired. Shuke went to the line to shoot two shots but missed both, taking the teams into overtime.
There, Leidig traded threes with McCort’s Lexi Martin early before Campbell gave B-A a two-point lead, scoring seven of her 33 in the extra period. McCort had one shot with under six seconds left to tie it but missed.
Leidig said B-A was confident it could win once it got the game to overtime.
“I think we had more confidence because we just came back from being down by 10,” she said.
Things get no easier for the Lady Devils from here. They advance to the District semifinals and punch a ticket to the PIAA tournament, but in the semis they will face No. 1 seed Penns Manor, which last season advanced to the PIAA East final against West Catholic. While B-A improved to 20-3, Penns Manor is 21-1.
