Herd race past Lions for victory
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Early in the third quarter of Carlisle's 65-38 victory over Altoona, Thundering Herd coach Andre Anderson yelled to Parker Smith "all day" on a transition layup after a missed Mountain Lion shot that put his team up by 25 points.
Unfortunately for Altoona, Anderson's statement rang true for most of the contest Tuesday at the AAHS Fieldhouse.
When the Mountain Lions were able to get back on defense and set up, Carlisle struggled to score. But more often than not, Parker and Jaydon Smith were dropping in nearly uncontested transition layups.
Jaydon Smith finished with 30 points and nine rebounds, and Parker Smith had 21 points.
"They totally beat us down the floor," Altoona coach Doug Pfeffer said. "That's on me. We do stress about getting back on defense, but tonight, Carlisle took full advantage. I don't know how many easy layups they got. But it was a lot. They are a very good basketball team. The two Smiths are phenomenal basketball players, and they make everyone else around them good. They look to push the ball, and they do it very well. We didn't adapt and get four or five guys back on defense. We were relying on one or two, and against a team like Carlisle, it wasn't good enough."
The Mountain Lions got off to a fast start and an 8-4 lead thanks to six quick points from Josh Lowery, who led Altoona with 15 points. But Carlisle responded with a 15-0 run and eventually settled for a 22-11 lead after one quarter.
Most of the successful Thundering Herd possessions were less than 10 seconds.
"That's definitely our game," Anderson said. "I did feel like we missed on what seemed like a thousand other opportunities, missing some layups and fumbling the ball. That is how we like to play, but we have to be better. We have to tighten it up and be more efficient when we have those opportunities. We feel like we have two of the better guards in the state and an all-around group of kids that can play fast like that. We didn't maximize our opportunities, but at the end of the day, we still won by around 30 points. We just go back to the drawing board, clean those things up and keep getting better."
Josh Corso's three-point play with 2:55 to play in the half got Altoona back within nine points. Corso finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Mountain Lions kept it relatively close before Carlisle closed the half on an 8-0 run in the final 30 seconds to take a 41-21 lead into the locker room.
Parker Smith's layup late in the third quarter put the Thundering Herd up by 31 and started a running clock.
"Our kids show effort every game," Pfeffer said. "We're not the most talented basketball team in the world by far, but we give effort. We're not getting the results we want, but our kids don't give up. For us to have a season like this and for them to come out every day and play hard, that's all I can ask for right now. We want better results. We want to win games, but I don't want the kids to give up, and they haven't."
Altoona still has home games against Hollidaysburg and Williamsport in its final stretch along with a game at Central Dauphin East, which has a losing record.
"I want to see us compete," Pfeffer said. "It's strange to say this, but there are some winnable games on our schedule that, especially for our seniors, they deserve to win some of those games. We're going into every game saying we have a chance to win, and we're playing every game to win. We just want to see us get better every game, and that hasn't happened all year. Sometimes we take two steps backward, but the effort has always been there."
Altoona, now 1-15, will have a choice on whether or not to enter the District 6 Class 6A playoffs in February. As of Tuesday, none of the teams in the 6A rankings have a winning record. State College is currently the top seed, and Mifflin County, which recently defeated the Mountain Lions, 53-40, is second, meaning Altoona would get a rematch against the Huskies in the semifinals if it chose to enter and the rankings remained the same.
"(Altoona athletic director) Mr. (Phil) Riccio and I will get together and decide that," Pfeffer said. "It's a tough decision. With our record, to be quite honest, it's probably not worthy. But we'll see how the season plays out toward the end. Hopefully we can get some wins and make the decision easier for Mr. Riccio."
CARLISLE (65): P. Smith 8 4-5 21, J. Smith 11 6-7 30, Ream 0 0-2 0, Fischer 1 1-2 3, Griffie 2 1-2 5, Mastrangelo 0 0-0 0, Spraglin 0 0-0 0, Royal 1 0-0 2, Johnson-Holmes 1 0-0 3, Baker 0 0-0 0, Samuelson 0 1-2 1, Knight 0 0-0 0, McMeekin 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 24 13-19 65.
ALTOONA (38): Larocco 0 0-0 0, Greaser 2 0-0 5, Crawford 1 0-0 2, Lowery 6 3-6 15, Corso 4 2-3 10, Owulade 0 0-0 0, Sankey 0 0-0 0, Polito 0 2-2 2, Walker 0 0-0 0, Hicks 0 0-0 0, Herr 2 0-0 4, Simendinger 0 0-2 0. Totals -- 15 7-13 38.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Carlisle 22 19 20 4 -- 65
Altoona 11 10 9 8 -- 38
3-point goals: Carlisle 4 (J. Smith 2, Johnson-Holmes, P. Smith); Altoona 1 (Greaser).
Records: Carlisle (15-3); Altoona (1-15).
Officials: Randy Burkett, Steve Schaff, Ray Hoppel.
JV: Carlisle, 45-34. High scorers--Royal, C, 12; Herr, A, 9.