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Lady Lions hang tough before bowing to CV

By Jon Fleck

For the Mirror

The nationally-ranked Cumberland Valley girls basketball team rolled into the AAHS Fieldhouse Saturday on a 31-game winning streak.

The Altoona Lady Lions gave it their best shot but came up a bit short, falling to the two-time defending Class AAAA champs, 46-33.

Altoona trailed by just two points, 32-30, late in the third quarter, but Cumberland Valley scored five points in the final 39 seconds and held off the Lady Lions in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

“We went toe-to-toe with the 13th ranked team in the country and number one in the state. If a couple things would have gone this way or that way, the outcome might have been different,” Altoona coach Miriam Colledge said. “Our girls are resilient. They never quit. The score’s not indicative of how close the game really was. We were right with them until the last couple minutes.”

USA Today ranks Cumberland Valley 13th in its latest national poll, and Pennlive.com has the Lady Eagles as the top team in Pennsylvania’s Class AAAA.

Villanova recruit, and 2015 Pennsylvania AAAA player-of-the-year, Kelly Jekot scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, leading the Lady Eagles to their fifth straight win to start the season.

Every time Altoona (2-3) looked to gain momentum, Jekot scored to extend the Valley lead. Her most important bucket came at the close of the third quarter when she banked in a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to put her team up 37-30.

“Kelly Jekot hitting that 3 for them was big,” Colledge said. “She’s Miss Pennsylvania basketball for a reason. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and put a bunch of change in it.”

CV led 23-16 at halftime, and extended that advantage to 12 points early in the third quarter on a Jekot 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Addi Kirkpatrick.

Altoona answered with a 14-4 run to pull within two points late in the quarter.

Alayna Biesecker started the run with a jump shot, and Amber Newberry followed with a defensive rebound that she took coast-to-coast for a layup.

Following a Cumberland Valley timeout, Paige Whitfield knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 28-23 game.

Maddie Shetrom continued the run after another CV timeout with a layup off an assist from Sarah Donley. Shaina Lear scored inside after making a steal on the defensive end, and Biesecker scored on the fast break.

When Whitfield converted 1-of-2 free throws with 39 seconds left in the quarter, Altoona was within a basket at 32-30.

“They defended us pretty well,” CV coach Bill Wolf. “They were playing inspired basketball. We’re the game everybody circles on their schedule. We understand that and how that dynamic plays out.”

Kirkpatrick’s layup followed by the Jekot 3 at the buzzer swung the momentum back to the Lady Eagles going into the final quarter.

“We feel fortunate to get out of here with a win,” Wolf said.

Donley’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter made it a 37-33. That was the last Altoona points of the game.

Newberry and Whitfield scored 10 points each to lead Altoona. Biesecker grabbed 11 rebounds.

Altoona continues to struggle shooting the ball. The Lady Lions made just 11-of-52 shots from the field and 7-of-13 foul shots.

“The shots didn’t fall from the outside or the foul line. We’ll continue to work on it and get better as the season goes on,” Colledge said.

CUMBERLAND VALLEY (46): Torresin 1 0-2 2, Ka. Jekot 2 4-7 8, Kirkpatrick 3 2-2 8, Baughman 0 1-3 1, Ke. Jekot 9 3-4 25, Frazier 1 0-0 2, Lehman 0 0-2 0 Tonrey 0 0-0 0. Totals – 16 10-20 46.

ALTOONA (33): Donley 1 0-0 3, Shetrom 2 0-0 4, Newberry 3 3-5 10, Biesecker 2 0-0 4, Whitfield 2 4-6 10, Stouffer 0 0-2 0, Lear 1 0-1 2, Kreuz 0 0-0 0. Totals – 11 7-13 33.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Cumberland Valley15 8 14 9 – 46

Altoona6 10 14 3 – 33

3-point goals: Cumberland Valley 4 (Ke. Jekot 4); Altoona 4 (Donley, Newberry, Whitfield 2).

Records: Cumberland Valley (5-0); Altoona (2-3).

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