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By NEIL RUDEL Staff Writer BELLWOOD — If you're a Blue Devil lover, it was a miracle finish. If you're a Pirate fan, it was a bad dream. Bellwood, needing a victory over visit ing Williamsburg to throw the Juniata Valley League into a four team rat-race nipped the Pirates 64-63 in the waning seconds Friday night to throw an overflow home crowd into bedlam And Don Erickson, Blue Devil power forward, is to whom Juniata Valley and Forbes Road — who now along with the Devils have renewed life — can address thank-you notes Erickson, who grabbed 21 rebounds and played from the outset with reckless abandon, earned two free throws with four seconds remaining to snuff the Pirates’ chance to ice a third straight league championship. Williamsburg, which trailed by as much as 28-12 late in the first half, stormed back to lead 62-58 with 1 minute left after Pirates’ kamikaze forward Jeff Ellis muscled inside for a layup. Then Bellwood's Rick Webb spun in for a short jumper and the Devils trailed 63-62 with 10 seconds to play. That set the stage. Pirate playmaker Arkey Morelli was called for charging with 8 seconds left. Bellwood got the ball to Erickson, who drove the left side and was blocked. Pressure time. One plus one situation for all the marbles. Four ticks left. Make it and there's a four way tie. Miss it and the Pirates dance back to Williamsburg. “Half and half,’ Devil coach Galen Bickel smiled when asked if he thought Erickson, a 40 percent free throw shooter, would come through, “I admire him for going to the bucket so hard. He wanted it. He played outstanding; he won it.”’ Erickson's first attempt hit the front of the rim, bounced high and swished through. All, perhaps, for effect. The second shot was clean, leaving head Pirate Don Appleman — who had brought his club back from an 0-7 start this season stunned. “It happened so fast I'm just starting to realize it, a somber Appleman said. “It was like we cooperated with them to help them win. We had it and gave it back to them.”* It was the second straight chance Williamsburg had to clinch the league title and botched it; the Pirates lost to 56-54 Juniata Valley Tuesday. Now Appleman must regroup for a four way mini-tourney, but insisted his club would be ready. ‘We'll be there for the playoffs,’’ he said sternly. ‘We're not going to sit down now. This team is too competitive and has come from too far down. ‘But give credit to them; it was a great effort by Coach Bickel and his people. They were the best team tonight they deserved to win, no question about it — but we'll find out who's the best team next week. Bickel, admitting the victory was the sweetiest of his two year tenure, said prior to the game that his big men Erickson, Lance Roulie, Bob Fowler have to do a job. They did. “These guys were really fired up,” Bickel said. “I think we got a little complacent in the second quarter once we got up, but we came back in the end.’ Just when it looked like the Pirates would be blown out of the gym, they regouped and ended the first half with a flurry that cut the lead to 8. Appleman’s troops tightened their belts early in the third frame and when steady sophomore center Scott Calhoun banged a fellow shot, the Pirates had their first lead. Behind Ellis, who scored 13 fourth quarter points, Williamsburg main tained a 2 to 4 point lead until it broke down in the end. What happened Don Appleman? “I thought when we went ahead in the last two minutes we had it won,” he said. “I thought there was no way we could lose. We played very tough defensively and well enough offensively, but they came out well prepared and we really had to bust our tails to get back.’ Bickel admitted that because of the Devils’ immediate history, he was wasn't placing bets. “I had my doubts,” he said. ‘We've been close so many times before this year and didn't pull through. This was truly great win. We've been through some rough times; it's good to see smiles on these kids’ faces.” Game notes: The top four teams in the IWL now have 7-3 records... Williamsburg closed its season with a 15-12 overall record...Bellwood is now 11-13 and has a game at West Branch Tuesday... The Dev ils were 5-18 last year and 10-12 the year before...Pirates shot 27 of 54 compared to 27 of 67 for the Devils...Devils stellar guard Chris DiRoma played almost entire second half with 4 fouls before exiting with 4 minutes left...'We struggled when we lost Chris,’ Bickel said, ‘‘but the kids held their composure’’...Williamsburg turned ball over 10 times, 1 more than hosts...Bellwood outrebounded the vis itors 43-30...Calhoun and Ellis led Pirates with 19...Lance Roulie (18), Webb (17) and Erickson (11) led the Devils. Williamsburg (63): Ellis 91-319, Grove 21-25, Calhoun 67-1119, Michelone 30-06, Morelli 30-16, Speacht 40-18. Totals — 27 9-18 63. Bellwood (64): Fowler 30-36, Erickson 4 34 II, Roulie 7 4-5 18, Webb 8 1-317, DiRoma 40-38, Riggieman 00-00, Stevens 12-24, Totals — 27 10-20 64, Score by quarters: Williamsburg................. 7172415 «63 BOT WOOG, sorce soreers aseviensse 1441813 1964 JV: Williamsburg 51-44 Officials: Charlie Fisher, Joe Hurd Bellwood hero Don Erickson (42) stuffs Williamsburg’s Stan Grove.
Newspaper Details
Altoona Mirror
Altoona, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Feb 17, 1979
Page 25
Full Page
Clipped by
John M.
USA 19 Jul 2026
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