While waiting to check into Tuesday's game against Mifflin County, Altoona's Lauren Hippo watched Kayla DeCriscio launch a 3-pointer.
She raised her arms immediately, moments before the ball swished through the net.
For the second straight game, DeCriscio seemingly couldn't miss, falling one short of her own Altoona record for 3-pointers in a single game with eight. The senior guard finished with 30 points and Altoona roared past the Lady Huskies, 68-46, at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse.
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Mirror photo by Patrick?Waksmunski
Kayla DeCriscio looks to put up a shot Tuesday night against Mifflin County.
"Every shot I take feels great," DeCriscio said. "Every time you take a shot, you always have to have the confidence that it's going in. You have to have confidence in yourself that even if you miss one, that the next one is going in."
Missing is something DeCriscio didn't do much of Tuesday, going 8-for-13 from beyond the arc one game after connecting on nine 3-pointers against Ambridge.
"[Kayla] has found her shot," Altoona coach Jill Helsel said. "It's nice to see, because these kids worked so hard in the summer that it's nice to see them being rewarded."
DeCriscio made two 3-pointers in the first minute and five in the first half as Altoona took a 31-17 lead into the locker room.
"Altoona is a very good team," Mifflin County coach Kevin Kodish said. "DeCriscio is on a tear right now. You can't spot a good team that kind of lead. Altoona really came out with a lot of electricity."
Hippo, who finished with 16 points, joined the 3-point contest in the second half and finished with four treys of her own. Sophomore Lauren Donley made a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to bring the Lady Lions' total to 13 treys in the game.
"We're very tough to beat when our guards are shooting like that," Helsel said. "Our post players also had a really good night."
Mifflin County, which entered the game 16-3 with losses only to State College, Hollidaysburg and Altoona, had avenged the State College and Hollidaysburg losses in the past week but couldn't pull off the hat trick against Altoona.
"We gave it all we had," Kodish said. "Coming off two 10-point wins over State College and Hollidaysburg, our girls were pretty tired. Altoona is a great team, but tiredness was definitely a factor."
Altoona's Kayla Grimme had another double-double by scoring 11 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
"I have so much confidence in our post players," DeCriscio said. "They always make their shots. We just come into every game like it's a big game, and that helped us out."
Altoona has now beaten Mifflin County twice. The Lady Lions topped the Lady Huskies 76-42 on Jan. 3.
"We have a couple weeks to get ready for the playoffs," Kodish said. "We have seen a big improvement as the season has gone on. Altoona was up to the challenge tonight, but we hope to get a future chance against them in the playoffs."
MIFFLIN COUNTY (46): Williams 4 1-2 11, Snyder 5 6-7 16, Halfpenny 2 0-0 4, Corbin 3 0-1 7, Chestnut 0 0-0 0, Cline 1 0-0 2, Cassatt 0 0-0 0, Knable 3 0-0 6. Totals - 18 7-10 46.
ALTOONA (68): Servello 1 0-0 2, Reffner 1 0-0 2, Grimme 3 5-6 11, Hippo 6 0-0 16, DeCriscio 11 0-0 30, Lee 1 0-0 2, Hatch 0 0-0 0, Palfey 1 0-0 2, Iuzzolino 0 0-0 0, Sh. Feathers 0 0-0 0, Donley 1 0-0 3. Totals - 25 5-8 68.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Mifflin County9 8 7 22 - 46
Altoona17 14 9 28 - 68
3-point goals: Mifflin County 3 (Corbin, Williams 2); Altoona 13 (DeCriscio 8, Hippo 4, Donley).
Records: Mifflin County (16-4); Altoona (17-3).
Officials: Dan Fletcher, Chuck Glasser, Greg Sipos
JV: Altoona, 60-21. High scorers-Paige Laughlin, MC, 9; Lauren Donley, A, 18.
