A lot of teams have struggled to defend Altoona's mix of inside and outside scoring this season, and Cumberland Valley proved no different.
Lysa Mealing dominated the paint with a double-double and four different players combined to hit six 3-pointers as the Lady Lions downed Cumberland Valley 57-32 Saturday in the first half of a girls-boys doubleheader at the AAHS Fieldhouse.
Mealing scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Kayla DeCriscio drained three 3-pointers on her way to 13 points off the bench. Marrysa Moyer hit double-digits as well with 10 points as Altoona improved to 14-1.
"Altoona's a very good team. There's a reason why they've only lost one game," Cumberland Valley coach Bill Wolf said. "They have a rare combination of speed and size. They're fast up the floor, their big girls can step out and hit the mid-range jumper, and they have good 3-point shooters."
Altoona jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and never trailed the Lady Eagles. Lauren Hippo scored the first four points on a pair of free throws and a putback. Moyer added a bucket on the fastbreak, and Mealing got a putback off a Shelby Reimer missed 3.
"We came out hard and executed our game plan really well," Altoona coach Jill Helsel said. "We hustled, we were tough on the boards and did what we had to do."
DeCriscio's 3-pointer just before the first quarter buzzer gave the Lady Lions a double-digit lead, 19-7, they maintained for the remainder of the game. The junior guard is shooting just under 50 percent from 3-point land on the season.
"My teammates do a good job of getting me the ball when I'm open. We play together and work well as a team," DeCriscio said.
A 10-2 spurt to start the second quarter put the Lady Lions up 20.
Mealing started the quarter with back-to-back buckets. The first came when she stole a CV perimeter pass and went coast-to-coast for the layup.
The 5-foot-11 senior then was fouled on a layup off a give-and-go pass from Courtney Dry. She converted the free throw to give the Lady Lions a 24-7 lead.
"Lysa's amazing. She jumps so high," Dry said. "We passed the ball really well, getting it to the open girl for good shots."
Following a Cumberland Valley bucket, DeCriscio continued the run with another 3-pointer and Moyer scored on the fastbreak off a Mealing assist to make it a 29-9 game.
In the second half, the Lady Eagles got no closer than 18 points.
Altoona plays rival Hollidaysburg on Tuesday.
"We'll have to play a near perfect game," Helsel said. "They're a lot like us. They have good players on the outside and the inside."
Hollidaysburg gave the Lady Lions their only loss, 60-57, in Hollidaysburg just before Christmas.
"We definitely want to get a win our own court," Dry said. "We got a little flustered in the first game, but it was early in the season. We'll play better this time."
CUMBERLAND VALLEY (32): Sunderland 1 1-2 3, Falconer 0 0-0 0, Weakland 3 3-3 12, Christ 1 0-0 2, Moyer 1 1-2 3, Hinish 1 0-0 2, Friers 2 0-0 4, Stevenson 1 2-3 4, Gettys 1 0-0 2, Fouts 0 0-0 0, Goth 0 0-0 0. Totals - 11 7-10 32.
ALTOONA (57): Dry 1 0-0 3, Hippo 1 2-2 4, Moyer 4 1-2 10, Reimer 2 0-0 4, Mealing 7 4-8 18, DeCriscio 5 0-0 13, K. Davis 0 0-0 0, Grimme 1 0-0 2, E. Davis 1 0-0 3, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Luciano 0 0-0 0, Servello 0 0-0 0, Reffner 0 0-0 0. Totals - 22 7-12 57.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Cumberland Valley7 7 10 8 - 32
Altoona19 12 16 10 - 57
3-point goals: Cumberland Valley 3 (Weakland 3); Altoona 6 (DeCriscio 3, Dry, Moyer, E. Davis).
Records: Cumberland Valley (3-15); Altoona (14-1).
JV: Altoona, 51-15. High scorers-Alexia Servello, Emily Davis, A, 14 each.
