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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
When Altoona's Jessica Stevens drilled a 3-pointer with 6:07 to play in Wednesday's game against Bishop McCort, the Lady Lions went into a stall mode with an 11-point lead.
It almost cost them before Madison Shetrom kicked the engine back on with a trey of her own with less than two minutes to play that gave Altoona enough breathing room to hold off the Lady Crushers, 58-54, in the championship game of the Jaffa Shrine girls basketball tournament.
"My coaches have lots of confidence in me," Shetrom said. "I heard my coaches say, 'take it' and I just shot the 3 and … swish."
Shetrom, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
"That was a huge shot," Altoona coach Miriam Colledge said. "Sometimes you try to stall for a little bit, and that's a dangerous game because you can get stuck and become complacent. When she hit that, it gave us a little bit of life and helped us muster through."
The 6-foot senior is listed as both a guard and a forward, but her services were needed in the paint to help with McCort's Division I recruit Haley Thomas as Alayna Biesecker struggled with foul trouble throughout the game before fouling out with 1:46 left.
"It's always going to be a battle against her, because she's such an amazing player," Shetrom said. "Saint Francis is getting a great player, but you just have to think out how you're playing her if you end up one-on-one. Jess Stevens did a great job covering her and kept her to minimal points."
Thomas finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Bishop McCort and was named the tournament's most valuable player despite not being on the championship team.
Thomas scored Bishop McCort's first seven points and had seven rebounds in the first quarter, but Altoona limited her to just nine points and six rebounds the rest of the way.
"Altoona made a nice adjustment," Bishop McCort coach John Hahn said. "As soon as Haley got into the paint, they went into a double and forced her into some bad shots."
The Lady Lions got contributions from several other players as well. Amber Newberry tied Shetrom for high-scoring honors with 14 points, and Kayley Burke scored 10 points and had five rebounds off the bench.
"Kayley Burke has been an unsung hero the past couple games," Colledge said. "She was huge again tonight. She positions herself really well around the basket, and she finishes shots down there while playing heads-up basketball."
Paige Whitfield, who also made the all-tournament team, fell to the court with 3:58 to play in the first quarter and began screaming while holding her left ankle. She had to be helped to the bench but got the ankle taped and returned with 4:11 to play in the second quarter.
She connected on a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half that helped Altoona extend its lead to double digits after the game went back and forth for most of the first two quarters.
"I really didn't know if she was going to be able to make it back," Colledge said. "That just shows the courage she has. She's a warrior who comes to play every night, and the girls picked it up when they saw her get back in there."
Whitfield's return coupled with more aggression from Shetrom on the boards in the second half played a large role in the Lady Lions' win.
"(Shetrom) did her job, what we needed her to do, especially in the second half," Colledge said. "We were on them at the half about boards, and she came through for us with that. She limited their second-chance opportunities."
Six-foot sophomore Bridgid Fox also assisted in the paint, filling in for Biesecker admirably.
"We just couldn't match up, because they are a big team," Hahn said. "We got good ball pressure and got plenty of steals, but we couldn't score in transition."
Bishop McCort is expected to compete for a district title with Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic, Blairsville, Homer-Center and Bellwood-Antis in a loaded District 6 2A field.
"There were four great teams in this tournament," Hahn said. "I told them, we're going to grow from this. We have (Bishop) Carroll, Forest Hills and BG coming up, and we have to grow up quickly."
As Altoona came off the court, Shetrom hoisted the championship trophy to a gathering of Lady Lion fans.
"It's special to win this as an Altoona team," Colledge said. "The girls have been excited about playing at the Jaffa since March when we told them about it. We knew it would be against some tough competition, and we were fortunate to be able to come out on top."
Game notes: Bishop McCort forced Altoona into 28 turnovers. … McCort turned it over 14 times. … The Lady Crushers won the battle of the boards, barely, 44-41. … Newberry was given the tournament's sportsmanship award. … With 1:39 to play, Altoona played a possession during which no time ran off the clock. After a huddle, the officials took five seconds off the clock once the mistake was realized.
BISHOP McCORT (54): Thomas 5 6-8 16, Wilson 5 1-3 11, Gibbons 3 0-0 7, Widmar 2 2-2 6, Yingling 4 0-0 8, Forte 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 2-2 4, Hunt 1 0-0 2, Bridges 0 0-0 0, Eckenrod 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 21 11-15 54.
ALTOONA (58): Whitfield 2 2-2 8, Biesecker 1 0-0 2, Newberry 5 2-3 14, Shetrom 6 1-2 14, Stevens 3 0-0 8, Burke 2 5-7 10, Fox 0 0-0 0, Hudson 1 0-2 2, Schilling 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 20 10-16 58.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop McCort 15 11 15 13 -- 54
Altoona 17 13 16 12 -- 58
3-point goals: Bishop McCort 1 (Gibbons); Altoona 8 (Whitfield 2, Newberry 2, Stevens 2, Shetrom, Burke).
Records: Bishop McCort (1-1); Altoona (3-2).
Officials: Joe Bilka, Bill Pfeffer, Craig Andros
JV: No game.