By Andy Stine

astine@altoonamirror.com

For the majority of Friday evening’s game against Harrisburg, the Altoona boys basketball team was playing as sloppy of a game that coach Doug Pfeffer could have feared with the Mountain Lions down 19 points midway through the third quarter.

The Mountain Lions scratched and clawed their way back to make it a 4-point game with under two minutes left, but a major comeback fell short in a 55-49 loss to the Cougars at the Fieldhouse.

Altoona turned the ball over 22 times in the game, which was a backbreaker for the Mountain Lions.

They trailed just 25-20 with 1:20 to play in the first half, but Harrisburg ended the remainder of the half on a 10-0 run to go up 35-20 at halftime.

“We can’t get down 15 at the half,” Pfeffer said. “We came out just not aggressive, not taking care of the basketball, and I thought that was a key to the game. We turned the ball over way too many times. I think we had 22 turnovers and that’s 22 times we don’t get a shot off.”

Ethan Hicks led the Mountain Lions with 16 points, including four 3-pointers which counted for the only baskets from long distance in the game. Josh Lowery added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“I couldn’t believe we played like that in the first three quarters,” Lowery said. “We don’t play like that in practice. In the fourth quarter, we knew what we were doing. I’m honestly just mad it took us that long to realize it.”

Altoona picked up its only win of the season last year over Harrisburg, which is off to a 4-7 start in the first half of the season.

“I just thought we got a little tight in the second half,” Harrisburg coach Demone Maxwell said. “These guys are trying to learn how to win basketball games. They got a little tight, and it almost cost us the opportunity to walk out of here with a win.”

Altoona cut the game to single digits with 4:57 to play on Seth Simendinger layup before Hicks hit a trey.

Hicks also got the excitement going on the Altoona bench with a corner three with 1:35 remaining to make it 51-47.

The Cougars’ Quincy Brannon hit a floater at the other end with a minute remaining to quiet any potential Altoona comeback.

“Our kids could have folded when we were down 19, but they busted their butts and made a run out of it. It was just a little too late,” Pfeffer said.

Notes: Before the game, Altoona sophomore Lucas Gority was honored for his heroics on Jan. 2. Gority took action on the maneuver, which was learned at an Altoona High School health class, on a teammate that began to choke while stopping at Sheetz on the way home from the Cumberland Valley game. The Mountain Lions host State College on Tuesday.

HARRISBURG (55): Sinkler 0 0-0 0, Brannon 8 3-6 19, Jackson 5 1-1 11, Walker 0 0-2 0, Bair 4 7-9 15, Strain 4 0-1 8, Dickson 1 0-0 2. Totals — 22 11-19 55.

ALTOONA (49): Dunkle 1 1-2 3, Barr-Baughman 0 1-2 1, E. Hicks 6 0-0 16, White 4 0-0 8, Lowery 4 5-10 13, Harrington 1 0-1 2, Simendinger 1 0-0 2, Greaser 1 0-0 2, Herr 0 0-0 0, Wagner 1 0-0 2, DiVentura 0 0-0 0, D. Hicks 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 7-15 49.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Harrisburg 14 21 10 10 — 55

Altoona 10 10 14 15 — 49

3-point goals: Harrisburg 0; Altoona 4 (E. Hicks 4).

Records: Harrisburg (4-7); Altoona (2-9).

Officials: Ethan Vipond, Curtis Miller, Brad Martz.