Lady Blue Devils shoot down the Lady Bucs in states
Lady Devils advance to face Seton LaSalle.
Foul shooting down the stretch was key for the Lady Devils in their win over Burrell in the second round of the PIAA playoffs.
March 11, 2015
Foul shots really do help you to win a game.
Last night the Lady Blue Devils the Lady Blue Devils hit 11 of 17 from the charity stripe, including some big ones by Karson Swoger late, in the PIAA playoffs against Burrell at the Richland High School Sports Center in Johnstown.
The Lady Blue Devils stayed focused and played together to take down the Lady Bucs, with a final score of 59-53. They played tough and hard until the very end and got some sweet revenge. Burrell had knocked B-A out of the PIAA’s the last two seasons.
Through solid contributions all around the Lady Blue Devils managed to “get the chip off their shoulder” and advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1999.
“Last night was the best feeling I’ve ever experienced,” said Carles. “We weren’t letting them end our season for a 3rd time. I’m so thankful for these girls and it’s be awesome to try to win a state championship together.”
After one quarter the Lady Blue Devils and the Lady Bucs were tied, but not for long. By halftime, B-A had managed to outscore the Lady Bucs 24-19.
After a long break, the Lady Blue Devils made sure they focused even harder, leading 41-40 after three.
Bellwood fell behind late in the fourth but took the lead for good on Swogger’s shots with 2:48 to go. Karson Swogger led the Lady Blue Devils with 17 points and was 4-for-4 at the foul line in the last 5.2 seconds of the game.
The Lady Blue Devils ran more than a minute off the clock before Hollen made some foul shots giving them a 54-51 advantage. Ana Hollen finished with 16 points, 5 assists, and a couple of blocked shots.
“Walking off of Saint Francis’s court almost two Saturdays ago, I felt like it was the end,” said Hollen. “But these last two games we have shown how mentally tough and strong we are. Last night when the going got tough, we got tougher. Our mindset right now is one game at a time, and if we stay together like we’ve been doing, we could actually do this thing.”
Kelly Leamer also managed to come through against the Lady Bucs scoring 15 points of her own.
“We’re looking forward to the next game and continue to work hard,” said Swogger. “It was an intense game and competition is going to grow as we go further. I thought everyone played well and it was definitely a group effort.”
The Lady Blue Devils record is now 27-2 and will face defending PIAA Champion Seton-LaSalle on Friday, March 13.
