Bishop Guilfoyle edges Altoona in Blair YMCA summer league thriller
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Even though the calendar read Aug. 6 on Thursday night inside the halls of the Blair Regional YMCA, the atmosphere presented things much differently inside the gym where The First Stop Shop and Beard Legal Group were playing for the girls High School Division YMCA basketball title.
And because it was, in fact, Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Altoona, it seemed a little more like a January or February game.
"My philosophy is if you are keeping score, we are going to compete. There should be no wavering on that," Beard Legal Group (Altoona) coach Chris Fleegle said. "If there is time ... if there is a home and away ... you should be giving your everything. Yes, the ante is up because it is BG and Altoona ... teams want to win it."
Beard Law Group took a 5-4 lead at the 15:50 mark of the first half, and then proceeded to hold that lead up until there were 34 seconds left in the game when First Stop's Layona Williams hit a 3-pointer from the side with 34 seconds left, was fouled, hit the foul shot, and then gave her team a 37-36 lead en route to a 39-36 victory.
"With our schedule this year, this might be one of the best games we play in over the next 8-10 months, so we told our girls to appreciate the quality of team that Altoona is," First Stop coach Kristi Kaack said. "This is great for our area. Great girls basketball game and a fun environment to be a part of."
Beard Legal Group led by as many as 10 points in the second half, 34-24, when Brionna Hudson hit a foul shot at the 9:40 mark. However, First Stop started hitting shots and started getting closer. Beard Law Group did not score again until Raylin Eyer hit a foul shot with 2:36 to go in the game to make it 35-30 in her team's favor.
"We are young, extremely young. We start three sophomores, and I think our youth may have showed a little bit at crunch time," Fleegle said.
Morgan Ruggery hit a layup at the 2:18 mark to cut the Beard Legal Group lead to 35-32. Nara Harzbecker hit a foul shot to make it 36-32 with 1:59 to play, and with 1:50 to go, First Stop's Maurie Querry made a foul shot to cut it to 36-33, setting up the dramatic final moments.
"We say to (our team) every year that we don't care if we win a summer league. Obviously, we show up and we play with pride, but we want to develop and we want to see kids mature before we get rolling into November," Kaack said.
After Williams finished off her four-point play for the 37-36 lead, Beard Legal Group had three chances in those final 34 seconds to take the lead. Ruggery was fouled during that time frame and made two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to set the final at 39-36.
"They got a lot of bounces, but a lot of that is on us," Fleegle replied when asked about his team getting out-rebounded most of the night. "There are two components to that. Finding a body and then going after the ball. Sometimes we would do one and not the other. But these are fixable things. This is the most athletic group we have ever had. We will clean things up and roll out a different product in November."
Williams led the winners with 12 points in a game her team trailed, 24-19, at the break.
"I think the best shooters have a mentality of that the next one is going in," said Kaack when asked about the team's low percentage from the field for the game. "When Anberlyn (Petrecca) struggled early, she still came back and made some big shots (in the second half). Layona stepped up and hit that 3. Morgan made those two foul shots. Those are some big shots and they are not afraid to take them."
Beard Law Group got 14 points from Eyer and 13 points from Hudson.
The winning and losing (in summer league) is about learning how to compete," Fleegle said. "It's a skill you have to learn, but the fact that we have tons of players that didn't have a lot of varsity minutes, and the growth in them in late May until August ... we are pleasantly happy with our road to success right now."
THE FIRST STOP SHOP (39): Homan 0 0-0 0, L. Williams 4 3-7 12, Querry 1 3-4 5, Ruggery 2 4-4 8, Petrecca 3 1-2 7, K. Ronan 0 0-0 0, Haigh 3 0-0 7. Totals -- 13 11-17 39.
BEARD LEGAL GROUP (36): A. Williams 0 1-2 1, Potts 0 0-0 0, Harzbecker 0 1-2 1 R. Lantzy 0 0-0 0, Davis 3 1-1 7, Rossman 0 0-0 0, Hudson 4 4-5 13, Eyer 5 1-5 14, E. Beck 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 13 8-15 36.
Halftime: Beard Legal Group, 24-19. 3-point goals: BLO 4 (Hudson, Eyer 3); TFSS 1 (Williams)
Officials: Jill Helsel, Bill Pfeffer, Joe Bilka.