B-A hoops teams set to begin postseason

The+Lady+Devils+begin+pursuit+of+their+third+straight+state+championship+with+a+District+playoff+game+against+Glendale.

Mya Decker

The Lady Devils begin pursuit of their third straight state championship with a District playoff game against Glendale.

Jake Bollinger, Sports Writer

As the regular season finally comes to an end, both B-A’s boys and girls teams are gearing up to start the District 6 playoffs with high expectations moving forward. 

The No. 1 seed Lady Devils will kick off their postseason at home when they host No. 8 Glendale, which defeated Southern Huntingdon, on Wednesday. The girls finished their regular season with a record of 22-1, winning their 7th ICC championship in the last 9 seasons and are seeking a third consecutive PIAA championship. This season has been full of highlights for the girls, especially for Alli Campbell, who broke the Blair County all time scoring record for both boys and girls, and Emilie Leidig, who reached the 1,000 point milestone earlier this season.

Sakeria Harelson has the chance to join those girls and go down in the record books, as she is just 16 points away from reaching the 1,000 point milestone. The road to the D6 Championship will be a tough one, especially with teams in the bracket like BG and Juniata Valley, who may stand in the way, but the girls carry high expectations going forward, and they expect to fulfill those expectations.

“I feel the pressure that’s on us is the pressure we put on ourselves,” said senior Emilie Leidig. “We want to win it for the third year, so we know what we have to do.” 

The Blue Devils finished their season with a record of 11-11, which was enough to secure them the seventh seed in the D6 3A playoffs. Friday the boys will travel to Westmont Hilltop to play their first round game against the No. 2 Hilltoppers, and if they win they are are guaranteed a spot in the state playoffs. The boys have a tough few games in their future. If they win they will either face off against Mount Union or Richland.

B-A had Mount Union in its regular season schedule, but they were definitely one of their toughest matchups of the season. Senior Troy Walker looks to make this postseason one of his best yet due to the fact that it will be the last time he will be wearing a Blue Devils uniform.

“We are treating every game like a championship and taking it one game at a time,” said Zach Miller. 

Tickets for the playoff games for both the boys and girls games will be sold online or at the door. No passes bought from the school will be accepted. 

The BluePrint wishes both teams the best of luck as they look to make strong runs in hopes of bringing a title back to Bellwood.