Krull, Wilt help Altoona end skid against rivals
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Altoona senior Jaiden Krull didn't want her last opportunity to beat Hollidaysburg slip by, and played her best basketball down the stretch of the Lady Lions' 40-34 win over the Lady Tigers on Tuesday at the AAHS Fieldhouse.
Krull scored eight of her 10 points in the second half and had three key plays in a 10-1 run to end the game. Trailing 33-30, the Lady Lions got a jumper and layup off a steal from Krull to take the lead.
Lanie Wilt put Altoona up by three, and then Krull helped the Lady Lions take a two-score lead in the final minutes when she grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Wilt, who made a jump shot.
"It's an effort play," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "We talk about crashing the boards even though we're the smaller team. She brute-force got in there, was under con-trol and got an offensive rebound. She was under control, didn't force it and kicked it out to an open teammate. It's unselfish basketball. It's about us, not individuals on this team."
Krull is known as one of the better rebounders in the Mid-Penn Conference despite not having the height usually associated with big rebounding numbers.
"I think that's one of my best skills," Krull said. "When I know I'm having an off game or my shots aren't falling, I just depend on my defense and my rebounding, because I know I can still help the team that way."
Wilt, who finished with a team-high 11 points, made two free throws with 25.4 seconds left to set the final score.
"We had multiple people put the ball in the basket," Fleegle said. "It was a typical Altoona-Hollidaysburg game. It wasn't all pretty for either team. I just thought our girls are so used to those type of games that we were able to gut it out. We played our best offensive basketball with our shot selection and making the most of our possessions at the end of the game."
With the victory, Altoona avenged a 52-38 loss in Hollidaysburg on Dec. 14.
"It feels great, because I have only beaten them once my entire career here," Krull said. "I'm glad we could end it with a bang."
Altoona finished 6-for-9 from the line and made all five of its attempts in the second half, something it struggled with in a recent loss to Central Dauphin.
"We closed out at the free throw line, and that's important," Fleegle said. "Some of that gets in your head at times. We try not to talk about it and just continue to work on them. The kids have put in a lot of work and concentration and were able to knock them down when they meant the most."
Leading 26-21 after a Clare Padamonsky layup with 5:39 left in the third quarter, Hollidaysburg missed a chance to build on its lead by missing three free throws and a few shots from close range.
"Most basketball games come down to free throws and layups," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "Today we didn't do a good job executing those two things, and it came back to bite us in the butt there at the end."
Altoona tried a different defensive approach than it did in December.
"That last time we played them, 90 percent of their shots were all going to the right side of the floor," Fleegle said. "We wanted to try and make sure we were pushing them to the left side. I thought Kendall Cogan came in and gave us some very good defensive minutes, because Clare was having herself a game, and she slowed her down a little bit."
Padamonsky finished with a game-high 13 points for Hollidaysburg. She also had a team-high seven rebounds.
The Lady Tigers played without senior Samantha Shoemaker, and some other players such as leading scorer Bella Vent, have been working their way back from injuries and sickness.
"We're beat up, bruised and banged up a little bit," Jubeck said. "We're going to take these next couple days and next couple weeks and try and get our kids healthy."
Game notes: Altoona's coaches wore shirts that read "Shooting for a Cure" and the players also wore them in pregame warm-ups in support of the Brian Morden Foundation, which has a mission of finding a cure for childhood cancer. ... Hollidaysburg is in line to host a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference playoff game if it wins out. If the season ended today, the Lady Tigers would host Forest Hills while Bishop Guilfoyle traveled to Bishop McCort in the other semifinal.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (34): Yohn 0 0-0 0, Stevenson 1 0-0 2, Vent 2 1-2 6, Padamonsky 6 1-4 13, Weimert 3 0-0 8, DiPangrazio 2 0-0 5. Totals -- 14 2-6 34.
ALTOONA (40): M. Eyer 4 0-2 9, Nguyen-Moore 2 1-1 5, Wilt 4 3-4 11, Harpster 1 0-0 3, Krull 4 2-2 10, R. Eyer 0 0-0 0, Cogan 1 0-0 2. Totals --16 6-9 40 .
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 5 16 10 3 -- 34
Altoona 9 12 6 13 -- 40
3-point goals: Hollidaysburg 4 (Weimert 2, Vent, DiPangrazio); Altoona 2 (M. Eyer, Harpster).
Records: Hollidaysburg (18-2); Altoona (17-4).
Officials: Sam Zambanini, Brock Kaufman, Denny Detwiler.
JV: Altoona, 48-21. High scorers--Lydia Beltz, A, 15; Jillian Sidney, H, 13.