Bellwood looks to show it’s still the better team
Tyrone wants revenge; Bellwood looks to show they’re still the better team
Joe Padula taking a lay-up in traffic.
February 23, 2016
When news spread that Bellwood-Antis was playing Tyrone in the District 6 semifinals everyone was excited, but tonight’s game might not be what everyone expected at the start of the playoffs.
The game will be held at the Hollidaysburg Area High School and tip-off will be at 7 p.m. Bellwood-Antis (22-2) is the No. 1 seed while Tyrone(15-7) is No. 5.
In the opening game of the season the Blue Devils bested Tyrone 73-62 in Bellwood, but the game wasn’t as close as the score leads you to believe.
In the third quarter the Eagles were unable to stop B-A as it went on a 20-1 run that put the Devils ahead 53-37 heading into the final quarter. The lead grew to 20 when B-A put its JV players in and Tyrone started to battle back with their varsity players.
B-A pulled away because it kept its poise and played its typical up-tempo game.
With tonight’s game being a rivalry game it is sure to be physical, and that is one of the reasons Bellwood won in the teams’ first meeting. Yes, both teams were physical, but Tyrone was plagued with three technical fouls among other fouls throughout the whole game. Leading scorer Anthony Politza sat most of the first half after picking up two quick ones.
In their last meeting Blue Devil Nathan Davis and Politza were expected to match up well, and tonight much of the same thing is expected. Davis is averaging 21.9 points per game with Politza averaging 18.5 points per game. Another weapon that the Golden Eagles have is Dylan Thomas. Thomas has 120 points off of three-point shots alone this year and if B-A doesn’t guard him well he could single-handedly keep the game close.
Tyrone regularly gets scoring from four different players, and B-A is balanced as well. Joe Padula averages double figures, while Jarrett Taneyhill averages nine points, eight rebounds and five blocks per game.
B-A will need to stop the Eagles early and put up points in the first half, something they have been struggling with lately if they want to keep momentum and win the game.
