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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Hollidaysburg Lady Tigers' first roadblock in the District 4-6 Class 5A basketball playoffs proved to be nothing more than a speed bump.
Hollidaysburg dominated from start to finish Tuesday night and rolled to a 59-12 victory over outmanned Selinsgrove in a semifinal-round district playoff game at the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School gymnasium.
The Lady Tigers, now 21-3 this season, broke out to a 21-3 lead after one quarter, expanded it to 38-9 at intermission, and got the mercy-rule clock running less than two minutes into the third period after building a 40-8 lead.
The win puts Hollidaysburg into Saturday's 4:30 p.m. district championship game against District 4 Shikellamy at Mount Aloysius College. Shikellamy advanced to the title game by defeating Central Mountain, 69-28, in Tuesday's other semifinal game behind sophomore standout Lily Fatool's 38 points.
Hollidaysburg used its pressure defense to attain a bevy of first-quarter steals, many of which were converted into layups.
"We had three good, hard practices leading up to this game, and we showed tonight what Hollidaysburg basketball is all about,'' Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "We wanted to get out of the gates fast, and we knew that our press could help us in that matter.''
Junior guard Bella Vent scored a game-high 14 points and another junior guard, Lauren Stevenson, added 12 for Hollidaysburg, which also got eight points apiece from sophomore guard Makenna Weimert and senior forward Isabella Yohn.
"We have a very good inside game, and good outside shooters,'' Jubeck said. "We just had to pull it all together tonight.''
Hollidaysburg did just that, bolting off to a 13-0 lead in the game's opening minutes before Selinsgrove (5-17) could answer.
Weimert's opening layup and putback gave Hollidaysburg a 4-0 lead, Stevenson converted a steal into a layup, Vent hit a 3-ball from the left side, Weimert parlayed another steal into a layup, and Yohn made a field goal off a rebound to finish the surge.
"Tonight was definitely a team win,'' said the 6-foot-1 Yohn, who also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds as Hollidaysburg dominated the boards, 39-10. "We really just played as a team tonight, and that was evident in our performance.''
Vent echoed those sentiments.
"I think that we really played together as a team tonight,'' Vent said. "We played really good defense, and we played together on offense, and made the extra pass.
"We knew that we had to get things right for the district championship game, and I'm sure that we will be ready for that.''
Hollidaysburg made 26 of its 59 floor shots for a 44 percent clip, while Selinsgrove - led by junior Erika Piepszowski's six points - converted only four of its 23 shots for 17.4 percent.
Selinsgrove coach Matt Salsman was very impressed with Hollidaysburg.
"Their team speed is something else,'' Salsman said. "We haven't seen too many players do what their guards did tonight. Number 5 (Vent) will be playing at the college level if she wants to do so, and number 23 (Weimert) is an excellent ballhandler for them.
"They're a very, very good basketball team,'' Salsman added. "They're well-coached, and they've had a good culture of success.''
Shikellamy, led by the sharp-shooting Fatool, will likely pose a much stiffer test for Hollidaysburg in the championship game.
"It's going to be a tough matchup,'' Jubeck said. "They've got good shooters, and a good inside game. We've got to make sure that we prepare the rest of the week so that we're ready for battle on Saturday.''
SELINSGROVE (12): Morrone 0 0-0 0, Piepszowski 2 0-0 6, Howell 0 1-2 1, Shaffer 1 0-0 2, Hackenberg 0 0-0 0, Kruskie 1 0-0 3, Benner 0 0-0 0, Dent 0 0-0 0, Presgreaves 0 0-0 0, Geipel 0 0-0 0. Totals - 4 1-2 12.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (59): Vent 6 0-1 14, Padamonsky 3 0-0 6, Stevenson 5 0-0 12, Weimert 3 2-3 8, Yohn 4 0-0 8, Shoemaker 2 0-0 4, DiPangrazio 0 0-0 0, Sidney 1 0-0 3, Lear 0 0-0 0, Steiner 2 0-0 4. Totals - 26 2-4 59.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Selinsgrove 3 6 3 0--12
Hollidaysburg 21 17 6 15--59
3-point goals: Selinsgrove 3 (Piepszowski 2, Kruskie); Hollidaysburg 5 (Vent 2, Stevenson 2, Sidney).
Records: Selinsgrove (5-17), Hollidaysburg (21-3).
Officials: Terri Piatek, Julie Slavik, George Figura.