HERSHEY—BellwoodAntiscaptureditsfirst PIAAchampionshipin girlsbasketballMondayatthe GiantCenter,butiftheLady BlueDevilshavetheirway,that goldballwillbegettingsome companyintheirtrophycase soon.
“That’stheplan,”BellwoodAntis’AlliCampbellsaid. “That’sthegoal.Wewanta three-peatformysophomore class.”
IftheLadyBlueDevilssimply hadonlyCampbellreturning forthenexttwoseasons,that wouldstillbeareasonablegoal.
WithRileyD’Angelobackfor nextyearandasophomore classthatincludesSakeria Haralson,EmilieLeidigandB-
A’stopplayeroff thebench,Jaydyn Shuke,itseems likearealpossibility.
“Wecanbeback herenextyear,” D’Angelosaid.“It willberoughwithout(graduating senior)Tina (Hollen),becauseshe’sour leader.Someoneisgoingto havetostepup,andhopefully wewillbebackherenextyear.”
Campbellisanobviouscandidate,butnextyearwillbe D’Angelo’sseniorseason.One ofonlytwojuniorsonthis year’ssquad,shewasnever afraidtotakethebigshot. D’Angelo’slate3-pointer
againstBlairsvilleinthePIAA semifinalshelpedB-Aavengea previouslossandmakeittothe statetitlegame. ThatBlairsvilleteamloses manyofits starplayers, includingallstate guard/forward Rena Enterline. Defending District6 champion BishopMcCort alwaysfieldsa strongteam, andPenns Manorgetsits entirestarting fivebackfrom
asquadthatmadeittothefinal fourinthestate. Still,Bellwood-Antishastobe consideredthefavoritetowina districtthatadvancedthree teamstothe statesemifinalsinClass 2Athisseason. “Thegoal everyyearis togethere,” Leidigsaid. “Wewantto comeback, andwewant towinagain. Wejusthave toworkfor it.” Oneofthe
keystothathappeningwillbe thecontinueddevelopmentof Haralson,whoBellwood-Antis coachJimSwaneysaidhasher bestdaysaheadofher. Haralsonpulleddown14 reboundsinthestatechampionshipgamebutstruggledto finishatthebasketearlyinthe contestwhentheLadyBlue Devilshadachancetopada nine-pointlead. She’sshownthepotentialto beadominantoffensiveplayer andwasverystronginthe paintagainstBlairsvilleinthe semifinals. Monday’sgold-medalwinning performancemightbeenough topushhertothenextlevel.
