Basketball

Tigers use strong 4th to beat rivals

By Nate Ritchey

nritchey@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- When Altoona and Hollidaysburg meet on the basketball court, more times than not, it's a close affair that comes down to late-game circumstances.

On Thursday night, it took a little bit longer for the contest to tighten up as the Lady Tigers exploded off the tip to a commanding lead.

A second-half flip of the script by the Lady Lions got them within three before Hollidaysburg regained its composure enough to pull away for a 52-38 victory.

"These girls came out with some energy and motivation from the get-go," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "People are doubting us this year and I think we put on a good showing tonight."

The Tigers sprinted to an 11-1 edge out of the gate behind a balanced scoring attack led by Makenna Weimert's five points.

Altoona recorded the next four points to get things back into single digits (13-5) on a Lanie Wilt pull-up with 47 seconds to go.

Hollidaysburg's Clare Padamonsky, who posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, made a layup with just under a second left to put her team up 15-5 after one quarter.

"We started off strong, and when I came in, I just wanted to keep that up what they (starters) started," Padamonsky said. "I just wanted to bring a lot of energy and continue what they started."

Padamonsky, who provided a huge spark off the bench kept the Lady Tigers right on rolling as the sophomore recorded the first six points of the second quarter for her team as part of a 9-2 run.

"It felt really good especially in a big game like this -- I had a lot of adrenaline," Padamonsky said.

Wilt's layup at 6:03 was the lone Lady Lion markers in the spurt.

Lauren Stevenson capped off the Hollidaysburg burst with a 3-pointer that stretched the lead to 17 (24-7) -- the largest of the game.

"They (Hollidaysburg) are a good basketball team -- very well coached. ... They work hard on their game," Altoona Chris Fleegle said regarding the Hollidaysburg start. "They made shots and we struggled. I struggled to get our kids some open looks -- some easier looks. They came out with more energy than we did."

A driving layup by Wilt, who led all scorers with 27 points, broke the run at 4:19 and kickstarted a 10-5 spurt that allowed Altoona to get within 29-17 at the half.

While the turnovers were close in the opening two quarters at 13-11 in Hollidaysburg's favor -- three of those from Altoona came on offensive fouls on push-offs and an illegal screen.

The difference was the Lady Tigers were able to capitalize on those mistakes -- allowing them to build the lead.

Hollidaysburg scored the first three points after halftime on a free throw by Samantha Shoemaker and two more from Bella Vent to put the advantage back to 15 (32-17).

Altoona, which began the half with three more turnovers, got a putback and corner 3-pointer from Melana Eyer to account for her only points as the junior star struggled to get anything to fall from outside or in close all night.

Weimert, who fronted the Tigers with 16 points, made the first of two foul shots to make it 33-22 with 4:31 to go in the third before the Lady Lions made their push back.

Wilt got things going with an emphatic 3-point play on a drive to the hoop that jumpstarted the 10-1 run by Altoona.

A pair of free throws from the junior got Altoona to a three-point deficit at 35-32 with 50.5 left.

"We had to just stay composed and not let it (Altoona comeback) get in our heads," Padamonsky said. "When the score was getting closer, we just needed to keep our heads in the game and get back to what we had going."

That's as close as the Lady Lions would get as Hollidaysburg's Isabella Yohn made the first of two from the charity stripe to close out the third at 36-32.

Weimert converted a driving layup to open the fourth quarter scoring before Wilt answered back with a pull-up at 5:53 to set the difference back to four (38-34).

Neither team could get anything to fall for nearly two-and-a-half minutes before Stevenson, who finished with 10, started a 7-0 run that allowed the Lady Tigers to push the lead back to double digits at 45-34 with 1:37 to go.

"We talk day-in and day-out about composure," Jubeck said. "When people bring their knockout punch, you've got to be able to take it and make sure that you remain even flow."

Hollidaysburg would go 10-for-12 from the free throw line down the stretch when Altoona was in foul mode.

The two rivals will meet again on Feb. 6 in Altoona.

"We played hard -- our kids are never going to back down," Fleegle said. "Myself, our coaching staff and everyone of those ladies in the locker room know we didn't play our best game tonight. They're going to continue to battle as they gave a great effort on the return, and we were a shot or two from getting back and taking that lead."

ALTOONA (38): M. Eyer 2 0-2 5, Nguyen-Moore 0 0-0 0, Wilt 9 7-8 27, Hollabaugh 0 0-0 0, Krull 0 4-6 4, R. Eyer 0 0-0 0, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Cohan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 11-16 38.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (52): Vent 2 5-6 10, Stevenson 3 3-4 10, Weimert 5 5-6 16, Shoemaker 2 1-4 5, Yohn 0 1-2 1, DiPangrazio 0 0-0 0, Padamonsky 5 0-2 10, Sidney 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 15-24 52.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Altoona 5 12 15 6 -- 38

Hollidaysburg 15 14 7 16 -- 52

3-point field goals: Altoona 3 (Wilt 2, M. Eyer); Hollidaysburg 3 (Vent, Stevenson, Weimert).

Records: Altoona (2-3); Hollidaysburg (3-0).

JV: Altoona, 44-25. High scorers — Kendall Logan, A, 20; Jillian Sidney, H, 14.