Basketball

Tigers outlast rival Mountain Lions to win opener

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Altoona returns only one starter from last season, and the Mountain Lions are breaking in a lot of first-year underclassmen on the basketball court this winter.

Hollidaysburg is a seasoned, senior-laden team with five returning starters and considerable experience off the bench.

Yet Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear knew that the matchup between the two Blair County archrivals Monday night would be a dogfight, and that's exactly what it turned out to be.

Led by senior forward Leyton Weimert's game-high 18 points and 12 from senior guard Cole Walters, Hollidaysburg closed strong to fend off the feisty Mountain Lions, 48-41, at the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School gymnasium.

Leading by only two points, 33-31, after three quarters, Hollidaysburg carried the fourth quarter, 15-10, to win its season opener. Altoona, which lost both of its games in the season-opening Peters Township High School tournament this past weekend, fell to 0-3 despite registering a very spirited effort.

"It was our first game of the season against our crosstown rival, and I'm happy to come out of here with a win,'' Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear said. "On paper, it might have looked like we had an advantage, but our coaching staff stressed to our kids that it was still going to be a very good game.

'It became just a matter of who could gut it out at the end,'' Lear added.

A 3-pointer from the left corner from Walters gave Hollidaysburg a 36-31 lead at the outset of the fourth quarter, before Weimert hit two free throws to put the Golden Tigers up by seven, 38-31.

Two free throws by Altoona senior Josh Corso and a 3-point field goal by senior Shaun Pervis narrowed the gap to two points, 38-36, when Hollidaysburg senior Mason Goodman drew a foul with 2:35 left.

Goodman made the first of his two free throws, but when his second missed the mark, senior guard Jake Hileman quickly grabbed the rebound in the paint and scored to give the Golden Tigers a 41-36 advantage.

Altoona coach Doug Pfeffer felt that Hileman had stepped into the lane early on the rebound, but Pfeffer's plea to the officials was unsuccessful.

Corso and Walters wound up both making one of two free throws to leave Hollidaysburg with a 42-37 lead with 1:08 left.

Goodman was fouled twice in the final minute and made one of two free throws on both opportunities, as Hollidaysburg held a 44-37 lead with 36 seconds left.

The final half-minute turned into a free-throw extravaganza, with Corso making four of four and Weimert and Goodman both hitting two of two to set the final score.

"We played pretty well offensively, but defensively, we could have done better,'' said Weimert, who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Golden Tigers. "It was our first game, and I think we were a little bit nervous in the first half, but in the second half, we were able to close it out.

"We just have to keep working on our weaknesses,''' Weimert added. "Teams are going to be aggressive against us because we play a lot of seniors, so defensively, we need to be more aggressive.''

Altoona was led by sophomore guard Dante LaRocco's 13 points. The Mountain Lions outrebounded Hollidaysburg, 28-25, with junior forward M.J. Harrington grabbing a game-high 10 for Altoona.

"Our effort tonight was excellent -- night and day better than our effort was this past weekend,'' Pfeffer said.

With Weimert scoring nine points, Hollidaysburg broke out to a 14-7 lead after one quarter. The Mountain Lions chipped away, and closed the gap to 21-19 at halftime, before taking a 28-27 lead on LaRocco's 3-pointer from the left corner late in the third quarter.

Turnovers proved costly for Altoona in the game, and the Mountain Lions converted only 14 of 51 floor shots for a clip that was slightly better than 27 percent, while Hollidaysburg made 13 of 37 for just over 35 percent.

"We had way too many turnovers the whole game, and we have to have the ability to make more shots,'' Pfeffer said. "We struggled to shoot the basketball tonight, and give Hollidaysburg credit - they knocked down shots and took care of the basketball.''

Hollidaysburg visits Bellwood-Antis tonight, while Altoona is idle until next Tuesday, when the Mountain Lions open Mid-Penn Conference play with a trip to State College.

"We're a very, very young team, and it doesn't get any easier for us with the next game at State College,'' Pfeffer said. "This was a great high school basketball game between two rivals tonight.''

ALTOONA (41): Crawford 1 0-0 2, Corso 1 7-8 9, Harrington 2 0-0 5, Greaser 2 1-2 7, LaRocco 6 1-1 13, Sankey 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Purvis 2 0-0 5, Owaulde 0 0-0 0, Dunkle 0 0-0 0, Simendinger 0 0-0 0. Totals - 14 9-11 41.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (48): Goodman 0 7-12 7, Hileman 2 0-0 4, Rhodes 0 1-2 1, Walters 4 2-4 12, Weimert 5 8-13 18, Steiner 2 0-0 5, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Holsopple 0 0-0 0, Metzger 0 1-2 1, Albarano 0 0-0 0. Totals - 13 19-33 48.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Altoona 7 12 12 10 -- 41

Hollidaysburg 14 7 12 15 -- 48

3-point goals: Altoona 4 (Greaser 2, Harrington, Purvis): Hollidaysburg 3 (Walters 2, Steiner):

Records: Altoona (0-3); Hollidaysburg (1-0).

Officials: Sam Zambanini, Mike Baum, Shawn Sinclair.

JV: Altoona, 67-29. High scorers--Ashton Barr, A, 16; Jayden Wolfe, H, 10.