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By Matt Michelone
sports@altoonamirror.com
It's not often that the Williamsburg girls' basketball program ever gets to go up against Blair County's big-cat schools.
After beating Hollidaysburg in the Building II Summer League semifinal last week, it cashed in on its chance to beat Altoona, which it did, 35-25, Monday night in the league championship.
"(It's) very nice to beat two tough teams," Williamsburg coach Amy Hileman said. "They always dominate normally The Building II. Very nice to see my kids come together from where we started to where we finished.
"(I'm) very proud of them. I'm thrilled with their hustle, they're all kids that are willing to learn and put forth what you ask of them."
Much of the first half was filled with opportunities that were missed. Both teams went over seven minutes at one point without scoring a bucket.
Linn Eyer helped get the offense going for Altoona. With around five minutes to go, she gave her squad a 7-5 lead with a bucket.
"We had opportunities, but we also didn't move the ball like we normally can against a zone," Altoona coach Amy Palfey said. "At the beginning of the game when they were playing us 3-2, we were sticking it a little too long in places and not using the open gap in the center to our advantage."
Leeanna Royer proved to be too much for Altoona. She took a feed for a bucket with under two minutes in the opening half to help propel Williamsburg to a 13-11 lead at the break.
Early in the second rising sophomore Royer wasted little time as she knocked down a three-ball to give Williamsburg a 16-14 lead. She finished the night with a game-high 21 points burying a pair of three-pointers and went 9-for-10 from the line.
"They have a phenomenal point guard (in Leeanna Royer)," Palfey said. "Being a lefty is a great advantage to her. Our girls defensively didn't step up to the plate like we had practiced. At the end of the day (Royer) is a phenomenal player."
It would take until there was less than 10 minutes in the game for Williamsburg to pull away as Reagan Prough took a pass for one of her three-pointers to help set off a 10-0.
"We were nervous to start," Williamsburg coach Amy Hileman said. "I've been really happy with our shooting the last couple of weeks, but we started off slow. It did definitely help when we went on that 10-0 run, and we were able to just relax and take care of the ball towards the end of the game."
Anastasia Ranalli drained a putback as part of the run to help give her team a 33-23 advantage with just over 7:30 to play.
Palfey is keeping an upbeat outlook after Monday night's set back.
"We're a work in progress, it's the summertime, and that's the beauty of it," she said. "We'll learn a lot from this opportunity and we'll continue to grow."
Hileman credits the commitment of everyone behind the scenes with the growth her program has seen.
"Williamsburg has been working for a long time in their youth program, and we're starting to see the results from that," she said. "Kudos to all the parents that have put in their time, and the kids for putting in their time towards this sport."
WILLIAMSBURG (35): Colbert 0 0-0 0, Frye 0 0-0 0, Colbert 1 0-0 3, Kagarise 0 1-2 1, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Prough 2 0-2 6, L. Royer 5 9-10 21, Ranalli 2 0-3 5, B. Royer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 10-17 35.
ALTOONA (25): Alexander 1 4-4 6, Beltz 2 0-0 4, Berardinelli 0 0-0 0, Cogan 1 0-6 2, K. Cuspert 1 0-0 3, Eyer 4 1-1 10, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Hudson 0 0-2 0, Melnik 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Lantzy 0 0-0 0, Osterhaut 0 0-0 0, Cuspert 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 5-13 25.
Halftime: Williamsburg 13-11. 3-point field goals: Williamsburg 1 (Colbert, Prough 2, Royer 2), Altoona 2 (Eyer, K. Cuspert).