ALLPORT – The Lady Warriors fell to the Lady Raiders on Saturday evening. It was a very slow start for both the Lady Warriors and Bellefonte on Saturday evening. The first points of the game didn’t come for over two minutes into the first quarter and were scored by the Lady Raiders, but in just under a minute, freshman Jenna Mertz was able to get a breakaway layup tying the game up at 2 points each. Throughout the first quarter, the Lady Warriors were struggling to hit shots, but Mertz was able to give West Branch the lead hitting a three-pointer, making the game 5-4. Unfortunately for the Lady Warriors, the momentum swung toward the Lady Raiders at the end of the quarter and continued into the second quarter. Bellefonte was able to score 12 unanswered points giving the Lady Raiders a 7-point lead that would only continue to grow. It was Tory Kalke who ended the run when she scored on a low-block shot. The rest of the second quarter favored the Lady Raiders who scored another eight unanswered points. But once again it was Mertz who was able to cut into the Bellefonte lead late in the half, scoring a buzzer-beater three-pointer, making the score 10-24 at the half.
The Lady Raiders were once again first to score in the third quarter, increasing their lead to 16 points. Senior Sarah Betts was able to score her first points of the game after beating her defender, scoring on the layup, and drawing the foul on her defender. But Bellefonte got those points right back, keeping their lead at 16 points. Betts scored a three-pointer to finalize the third-quarter score at 17-30. It seemed like the Lady Warriors had begun to make a comeback with Mertz hitting another three-pointer only seconds into the fourth quarter. But the Lady Raiders stopped that momentum, quickly scoring on back-to-back drives. The Lady Warriors defense was able to hold Bellefonte long enough for Mertz and Betts to both scores, adding five more points to the board for West Branch. The rest of the game was back and forth, with many foul shots and the Lady Raiders scoring the last points of the game. The final score of the game was 26-45.
