Basketball

Inside game spurs Hollidaysburg

CRESSON -- Hollidaysburg's girls basketball program has prided itself on depth and a wide array of talent during Deanna Jubeck's time coaching the Lady Tigers, and that strength in numbers paid off Saturday in the District 4-6 Class 5A championship game at Mount Aloysius College.

Shikellamy led early but began to fade as foul trouble consumed the Lady Braves. Hollidaysburg continued to send waves of offensive and defensive talent at District 4's best before there simply was literally almost nothing left in the Lady Tigers' 65-45 victory.

Lily Fatool, who finished a team-high 23 points and a team-low (for starting players) four fouls, was the only Shikellamy starter left standing by the end of a game that saw Olivia Solomon, Blaire Balestrini, Allison Minnier and Nadia Smith all foul out.

"Our inside game with Clare (Padamonsky), Isabella (Yohn) and Sam (Shoemaker) did tremendous and got us where we needed to be at the end of the game," Jubeck said.

Hollidaysburg led by six going into the fourth quarter, but two baskets by Padamonsky, who finished with a team-high 18 points, and one by Shoemaker against a Lady Braves team that had already lost two post players, sealed the game.

"During the first half, they started to get in foul trouble," Padamonsky said. "In the second half, we had some mismatches and were able to do more than in the first half."

At first, it looked like the foul trouble might hurt Hollidaysburg even though it was Shikellamy getting into it.

Minnier picked up two fouls in the first 47 seconds leading Shikellamy coach Lew Dellegrotti to bring Kianah Lenner off the bench.

Hollidaysburg didn't seem ready for the change and left Lenner wide open several times, and the sophomore drilled five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the first quarter.

"Our focus was a lot on Lily Fatool, and we were just losing (Lenner)," Jubeck said. "Credit to her, she came out and had 17 points in the first quarter and really didn't miss. She's the reason they had that lead in the first half."

Fatool's three-point play a minute into the second quarter put Shikellamy up by eight, but Hollidaysburg began to inch back into the game as the Lady Braves' fouls piled up.

"It's a tough situation," Dellegrotti said. "We have to get better at handling the ball. We only have one person that can bring the ball up under pressure. They are young, and they will work on that. We have to get depth."

Hollidaysburg surged ahead on the play of Makenna Weimert, who scored 15 points mostly in the middle quarters before herself falling into foul trouble.

Bella Vent put the final nails in the coffin by going 8-for-10 from the foul line in the last 3:19.

"We have a core group of guards that came back and were determined to show what this team was capable of doing," Jubeck said. "It started last year when we lost in states. They don't want that feeling again this year. They want to leave their own legacy."

Fatool finished above her scoring average of 19.9 points per game but managed just five points in the first half.

"She's the real deal," Jubeck said. "We saw her on film and know she shoots 20-25 shots per game. We knew if we could slow her down a tab bit, we would have a good chance to win."

The District 4-6 championship was sweet for a Hollidaysburg team that struggled both on the court and to stay healthy down the stretch.

"We all just pushed and worked so hard every day at practice," Shoemaker said. "We rested until we all got better. We came back better than ever."

Hollidaysburg will host the sixth-seeded team out of District 3 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs on Saturday, March 9.

Delegrotti announced he will be joining the Shikellamy seniors in leaving the program.

"My senior class, I love them," Dellegrotti said. "I am here for them. I put my resignation in. I won't be here next year, but I stayed for them. They are great kids and know their roles and work hard."

SHIKELLAMY (45): Fatool 6 9-9 23, Solomon 0 0-0 0, Balestrini 1 0-0 2, Minnier 1 0-2 2, Smith 0 0-0 0, Lenner 6 0-0 17, Koontz 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0, Berry 0 1-2 1, M. Bronowicz 0 0-0 0, Deitrich 0 0-0 0. Totals--14 10-13 45.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (65): Vent 2 8-10 13, Shoemaker 3 0-0 6, Stevenson 4 1-2 11, Weimert 5 5-8 15, Yohn 1 0-0 2, DiPangrazio 0 0-0 0, Padamonsky 6 7-8 18. Totals--21 21-28 65.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Shikellamy 21 5 13 6 — 45

Hollidaysburg 16 13 16 20 — 65

3-point goals: Shikellamy 7 (Lenner 5, Fatool 2); Hollidaysburg 3 (Stevenson 2, Vent)

Records: Shikellamy (17-7); Hollidaysburg (22-3)

Officials: Ray Hopple, Steve Schaaf, John McDougal