Trending
By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Tyrone, Central, Bellwood-Antis and Hollidaysburg all had girls basketball teams playing at the Blair Regional YMCA on Tuesday night.
This winter, those Blair County rivals, in addition to Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic and six other non-county teams, will all be part of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference's East Division.
"I think it's exciting," New Bellwood-Antis coach Kyley Longo-McGarvey said. "I played at Hollidaysburg, so I'm used to having rivalries against Altoona and State College. I think it's a great opportunity for us at Bellwood to have those local rivalries. A lot of these kids play AAU together, and there are friendships there. So it will be nice to see them compete on the court, and I think it's going to be a great opportunity for everyone to get better."
The Lady Blue Devils were in the Inter-County Conference last season, and both Tyrone and Hollidaysburg were in the Mountain League. Central was already a member of the LHAC, coming over from the Mountain League a couple years ago.
The teams have always played in summer leagues like Tuesday in which Central topped Tyrone, 37-31, in a game featuring many players who will see varsity minutes this winter. But going forward, the teams will see a lot more of each other, which will be a good thing to build back some lost rivalries and get some larger crowds at games.
"With the teams closer by and the teams around this area, it will add excitement," Central coach Courteney Lingafelt said. "I know it's always fun playing teams closer, because it brings more of an atmosphere. The girls know each other, and it definitely helps build a rivalry."
The rivalry between Tyrone and Central had risen to almost the level of Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis before the Scarlet Dragons left the Mountain League. That renewed rivalry alone makes the conference shift interesting.
There's a lot of benefit for a team like Bellwood-Antis too, despite perhaps a harder road to the postseason. Fans might not be too interested in driving up the mountain to Moshannon Valley or going to Curwensville on a Tuesday night in winter -- or even not capable because work hours don't allow it. Now, there will be several built-in close road games that should help Blair County basketball as a whole.
"The Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference is a new wave that is putting a lot of the local teams together," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "We're excited to be a member of that new conference."
Altoona was also in action Tuesday at the YMCA. The Lady Lions are a member of the Mid Penn Conference and their closest league foe is State College. Beyond that, all of their conference road games are at least an hour away, and those schools don't often bring many fans to the AAHS Fieldhouse when Altoona is home.
Leagues like the Blair Regional YMCA's gives Altoona a chance to play against kids from the area more often like in Tuesday's win over Bellwood.
"It's exciting for our girls," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "We're always on the road an hour or two hours away. So, when they get to play their friends and other local athletes that they play AAU with, I think they enjoy that."
It's hard to say if Altoona would be accepted into the LHAC if it wanted to make the move. The league did not approve Hollidaysburg as member in high school football.
There are pros and cons to it from the Altoona side.
The Lions get excellent competition in the Mid Penn Conference, and some of their teams have been very competitive, including the Lady Lions and the Altoona baseball team, which won a league title in 2022. But as a result, save for a couple games a season, there isn't much of an atmosphere at a lot of their games.
"I definitely enjoy our conference, the coaches and players we compete against," Fleegle said. "Our girls get a feel for the local rivalry whenever we play Hollidaysburg when the stands are somewhat full. It would be nice to have more local games where we had more people in the stands, but I also think if we continue to build on last season's success and continue to win, more people will be in the stands."
If the ultimate goal is to win state championships, Altoona's best bet is probably to stay in a conference it can be tested each night by schools the same size or bigger. There are sports where the Lions are much closer to competing for that than others, so that makes it more of a gray area. But now that so many of the county's schools have joined the LHAC, scheduling non-conference games against Altoona will be even harder in most sports.
It's just a shame that while many Blair County rivalries will be heating up, Altoona may appear on local schedules less.
Michael Boytim can be reached at mboytim@altoonamirror.com or 946-7521