A year ago, the Bellmont Braves were simply not ready to take on Woodlan away from home just a week after losing in the volleyball state finals. They lost that game 43-38 before going on a seven-game win streak as center Hailey Cole worked her way back to health from an injury sustained in those State Finals.
Fast forward to this season and the Braves were ready Friday night to erase that loss from their minds with a game on their home court with a team that is meshing and maturing quickly despite a very new team dynamic.
All of this was on full display Friday night in front of the next generation of players on “Youth Night” at the Teepee in Decatur as Bellmont build a first-half lead and showed their depth by extending it further in the second half en route to a 60-38 victory over the Warriors.
Bellmont’s abundance of youth has caused many following this Braves team to track a new stat this season – quarters played. Head coach Andy Heim has a large contingent of girls getting major minutes in one or two quarters of the JV game early this season before saving their remaining quarters for the varsity contest.
So far, Heim’s math and plan are working out perfectly.
Kate Kitson knocked down a couple of threes in the opening quarter and freshmen twins Mary and Ashley Bleke each got on the board early to give the Braves a 17-11 lead. Mary dominated down low in the first quarter of the JV game, scoring seven points in her cameo before resting for the varsity game.
Emily Bleke (shown below) got into the scoring column in the second quarter with a three, but the game slowed down a bit before half. Bleke finished with a team-high 13 points.
Coming out of the locker rooms at halftime with an 11-point lead, the Braves got Emily Bleke and Kaitlyn Barton to the line for some free throws and added to their lead. Barton also had a good first JV quarter before saving her minutes for the varsity contest. She finished with three points after knocking down 3 of 4 at the line.
The offense ran through Lanie French in the fourth quarter, with the sophomore scoring ten of her eleven points in the final stanza.
The Braves will have a three-game week next week, playing Dwenger at home on Tuesday before going to Jay County on Friday, then returning home for Alumni Night Saturday against Heritage.
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