Trending
Sometimes the defense has to carry a team until the offense gets going.
That's exactly what the Altoona girls basketball team needed to do Friday night.
A stout team defensive effort -- holding visiting Cumberland Valley scoreless through the first quarter and a half -- carried the Lady Lions until the offense kicked into gear for a runaway 44-18 victory in a Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth game at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse.
"Our team defense is something we really work on at practice," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "The kids buy into it and it's something that we know that's always going to travel. You're not going to always shoot the best, you're not going to always score at a high percentage, and you'll have games like that, but if you can stop someone and rebound the basketball, it's going to allow you to go through those dry spells on the offensive end."
Altoona raised its record to 14-3 overall and stayed perfect at 10-0 in the Mid-Penn, setting up a matchup against the conference's second-place team, Central Dauphin, on Monday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
"It's an exciting opportunity for both teams," said Fleegle, whose squad beat CD, 46-35, on the road Dec. 19. "We're the two best teams in the conference. We got them on their floor and I'm sure they're going to be ready to come in here and give us their best shot. I'm excited. Hopefully we have a lot of people in the stands Monday night to come out here and support these girls."
Cumberland Valley slipped to 4-12 overall and 4-6 in the conference.
While both teams struggled from the offensive end of the floor to start the game, Altoona was able to muster enough offense to take a 7-0 lead after one quarter. Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore started the scoring with a free throw at the 5:57 mark, then senior Jaiden Krull converted a layup off a fast break and then made a free throw before freshman guard Raylin Eyer drained a corner 3-pointer with just seconds left in the quarter.
"It was just a gradual process where they just slowly but surely pulled away." Cumberland Valley head coach Bill Wolf said. "It was our inability to put the ball in the basket that really hurt us tonight. I think we were 7-of-41 from the floor for 14 percent, and in that first quarter I think we had seven turnovers."
Melana Eyer started the Lady Lions scoring in the second quarter with a free throw at 5:54, then she followed that with a fast break layup off a feed from Nguyen-Moore for a 10-0 lead with 5:01 left before halftime. Cumberland Valley broke into the scoring column on a Sienna Manns layup at the 4:45 mark, but Raylin Eyer responded with her second 3-pointer at 3:37 and pushed the Altoona lead to 13-2.
Raylin Eyer hit her third trey of the game with 20 seconds remaining before the half to push the Lady Lions lead to 19-5.
"Whenever I hit my first shot, I just think the next one's going in and I just keep shooting with confidence," Raylin Eyer said. "As a team, we really put our defense together and shut them down, and our defense led to our offense."
Raylin Eyer scored nine points in the game, following up a 27-point performance in a win over Harrisburg earlier this week where she was 8-of-9 from 3-point range.
"Raylin is a natural shooter, she's got a quick release, and her teammates know that if her feet are set and we give her a good pass, she's going to make more than she's going to miss," Fleegle said. "She had a great game in Harrisburg shooting from the outside. As a freshman we tell her that she has the green light. We want her to shoot the ball."
Altoona's offense continued to make strides in the second half, outscoring Cumberland Valley 13-8 in the third quarter and 12-5 in the fourth.
"In the third quarter we started executing better on the offensive end," Fleegle explained. "I thought we started attacking more and allowing that to open up some shots on the outside. I think we got a couple of easy baskets around the rim and mid-range to start the third quarter."
Altoona's Krull turned in another strong performance in the post. The 5-foot-6 senior forward scored a team-best 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Nguyen-Moore, a sophomore guard, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"Jaiden is our workhorse," Fleegle said. "She rebounds well, she has a very nice touch around the rim and she can also put it on the floor. We feel confident that our team defense, with Jaiden and Zae's (Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore) post defense, we can play small and still be successful on the defensive end."
Game notes: Melana Eyer chipped in nine points for Altoona. … The Lady Lions struggled from the free throw line, making just 11-of-22, but won the rebounding battle, 43-29. … Manns led Cumberland Valley in scoring with eight points. … Cumberland Valley travels to Red Lion tonight.
CUMBERLAND VALLEY (18): Basehore 0 0-0 0, Moul 0 0-0 0, Hill 1 0-0 2, Manns 4 0-1 8, Dwyer 0 0-0 0, Warren 0 0-2 0, McIntire 1 0-0 2, Golalic 0 1-2 1, Lawer 1 0-0 3, Shah 0 2-2 2, Witalec 0 0-0 0, Seiders 0 0-0 0, Pugh 0 0-0 0. Totals - 7 3-7 18.
ALTOONA (44): M. Eyer 4 1-4 9, Nguyen-Moore 1 1-2 3, Wilt 0 4-6 4, Harpster 2 0-0 6, Krull 4 5-10 13, R. Eyer 3 0-0 9, Cogan 0 0-0 0, Knorr 0 0-0 0, Beltz 0 0-0 0, Berardinelli 0 0-0 0. Totals - 14 11-22 44.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Cumberland Valley 0 5 8 5 -- 18
Altoona 7 12 13 12 -- 44
3-point goals: Cumberland Valley 1 (Lawer); Altoona 5 (R. Eyer 3, Harpster 2).
Records: Cumberland Valley (4-12, 4-6 Mid-Penn); Altoona (14-3, 10-0 Mid-Penn).
JV: Altoona, 25-23. High scorers--Nadia Seiders, CV, 9; Lydia Beltz, Kendall Cogan, A, 7 each.
Officials: Curtis Miller, Billy Pfeffer, Craig Andros.