By Andy Stine

astine@altoonamirror.com

Three games in four days is a tough way to start a high school basketball season, especially against three of District 7’s best girls basketball teams.

But to get two out of those three is a way that Altoona coach Chris Fleegle will happily take to start the season, capped by Tuesday night’s 50-43 win over Mount Lebanon at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

“It looks daunting playing three power-WPIAL schools,” Fleegle said. “(Altoona athletic director) Mr. (Phil) Riccio likes to challenge us early. It’s a way to see where we’re at and what we need to work on. I thought the kids responded extremely well.”

The Lady Lions have a good mix of experience and youth this season, and while the youngsters were able to help out against the Lady Devils, it was a senior in Melana Eyer that was able to lead Altoona.

Eyer had a game-high 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Her sister, sophomore Raylin Eyer, drilled 3s from long distance, too, while freshman Brionna Hudson put in 10 points.

“It’s definitely tiring, but that’s just part of our program,” Eyer said of the first three games of the season. “That’s what’s going to help us get better and make it further into state playoffs.”

Mount Lebanon’s Payton Collins scored 17 points, leading her team in a rotation that Fleegle said has a lot of good shooters.

“You’re not going to stop her,” Fleegle said. “She’s going to find a way to get her baskets. They run offense very well. They don’t stop. They don’t get tired. We felt if we played solid defense and rebound when they do miss, we give ourselves an opportunity to win.”

“Altoona is a really good team,” Mount Lebanon coach Mark Walsh said. “We saw them play twice at the North Allegheny Tournament. I was really impressed with them. I thought they did a great job of finding the open shooter in the opposite corner.

“We knew it would be a tough game. It’s only going to make us better. But this will give us a lot to work on in the coming weeks.”

Altoona worked its way to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter, only to watch it disappear by the middle of the second quarter after a three from Collins made it a 22-22 tie. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way en route to a 27-27 tie at halftime.

Raylin Eyer’s trey with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter gave Altoona the lead for good after the Lady Devils took a brief lead in the third quarter. Her three was just the beginning of an 8-0 run for the Lady Lions after a Melana Eyer 3-pointer and a Hudson layup off a turnover made it 38-32.

Hudson also splashed a corner 3 with 5:10 to play to put Altoona up 43-37.

Mount Lebanon cut the deficit to four points with a pair of Elizabeth Twyman free throws with 26.2 seconds to play, but Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore and Melana Eyer both hit foul shots to close to the game.

The Lady Lions (2-1) are off until Monday when they host Hollidaysburg.

MOUNT LEBANON (43): Hall 0 2-2 2, Twyman 2 5-6 11, P. Collins 4 5-6 17, R. Collins 1 0-0 2, McCarthy 2 2-2 6, Green 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 3. Totals–11 14-17 43.

ALTOONA (50): M. Eyer 6 3-4 18, Nguyen-Moore 3 2-2 8, Hudson 4 1-2 10, Wilt 0 3-4 3, Harpster 0 2-2 2, R. Eyer 3 0-0 9, Cogan 0 0-0 0. Totals–16 11-14 50.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mount Lebanon 10 17 7 9–43

Altoona 19 8 11 12–50

3-point goals: Mount Lebanon 7 (Twyman 2, P. Collins 4, Smith); Altoona 7 (M. Eyer 3, Hudson, R. Eyer 3).

Records: Mount Lebanon (2-1); Altoona (2-1).

Officials: Ethan Vipond, Ray Hopple, Steve Schaff.