Lady Lions’ furious rally falls just short
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Altoona's girls basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday night at the AAHS Fieldhouse in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs, but the Lady Lions lived up to their nickname by showing the heart of one.
No one symbolized that more than senior Jaiden Krull, who had to be helped off the floor just 47 seconds into Altoona's 44-43 loss to Chartiers Valley with an ankle injury. Krull returned to start the second quarter, led all scorers with 23 points and nearly captained an 18-point second-half comeback that fell just short at the buzzer.
"It's pretty bad. It's throbbing," Krull said. "I was not going to not play. I wanted this so bad. I put everything I had on the court tonight."
Krull's 3-pointer with 21.6 seconds left pulled Altoona within one point after it had trailed 39-21 with 5:25 to play in the third quarter after a pair of free throws from Chartiers Valley's Ella Cupka.
"Jaiden is going to be missed," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "As a player, as a person, she's a great representation of our program, the toughness we ask our kids to play with. She came in here as a point guard as a freshman. She's leaving here being able to battle 6-foot girls in the paint and finding success with it. That ankle would have had to be broken for her not to play the rest of that game today."
Following Cupka's free throws, Chartiers Valley did not score again until another Cupka free throw with 1:32 left that made it 40-37. During that span of 11 minutes and 53 seconds, Altoona outscored the Lady Colts, 16-0.
"We got a little conservative," Chartiers Valley coach Mike Semplice said. "We were trying to get good possessions, but some of the girls just stopped being aggressive. (Altoona) just kept clawing their way back in. It just felt like we made some big defensive plays when we needed them and hit some foul shots, but it was a nailbiter."
Cupka missed the first free throw, but with the new rules instituted by the PIAA this season, players get two free throws after five fouls in a quarter, and she made the second to snap Chartiers' scoreless drought.
"We were fortunate they missed some, but with the new rule change, players get two free throws either way," Fleegle said. "That's a big deal."
Another big shift in momentum came with 2:06 remaining and Altoona down by four. Lanie Wilt drove to the basket and laid it in for two. The crowd exploded in cheers making the whistle blown for the charge that was called that wiped out the basket hard to hear.
"That's a bang-bang call," Fleegle said. "I wasn't in the best position to say it was a charge or wasn't a charge. I'm proud Lanie took the ball to the basket hard. We even talked during the first game tonight that there should be a circle underneath the hoop that you can't take a charge in, but I think the girl was set. Lanie made a strong move, and you can't fault the referee. That's their call."
Chartiers Valley made just two field goals in the second half, a layup by Cupka and a 3-pointer by Emma Reynolds, but took two four-point leads late thanks to free throws. Both times, Altoona answered with 3-pointers, one by Melana Eyer with 57.4 seconds left and the other by Krull.
"I'm extremely proud of them," Fleegle said. "The gym was packed. It was loud. It was rocking. That's because of them. It's always about the kids. We coach, but these kids put all the effort in on the floor and do all the good things. Besides the loss, I was happy to see they got a gym of people cheering them on in their hometown. That's special for them and the program."
Following Krull's 3-pointer, Altoona called a timeout and put on a full-court press. Chartiers Valley tried to throw it the length of the court, but it led to a turnover that gave Altoona the ball with a chance to win the game on its final possession.
Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore drove into the lane and had Krull open behind her, but with her back turned and a defender draped on her back, never saw her. She passed out to Samantha Harpster, who found Wilt for a 3-point attempt that was on line but just short. Harpster came away with the offensive rebound and got a shot up quickly just before time expired. It bounced off the back of the rim and fell to the court as Chartiers Valley celebrated earning a date with WPIAL champion Norwin on Tuesday in the second round.
"At the end of quarters and the end of halves, Lanie is pretty good at getting her shot off," Fleegle said. "We were trying to get something downhill first, and we didn't. Sam made a quick pass to Lanie, and we got a shot. We got an offensive rebound and got two shots. You want a timeout there, but we had to use them to set up our defense to get those turnovers to have that chance."
Chartiers Valley, which got a team-high 18 points from Lilah Turnbull, moved up to Class 6A last year after recently winning a PIAA Class 5A championship under former coach Tim McConnell.
"A lot of these girls played for Tim their freshman year, and they knew a lot of those girls on those championship teams and watched them growing up," Semplice said. "That winning is part of them, and we're finding ways to do that right now."
Krull and fellow seniors Isabella Knorr and Jersey Hollabaugh, who suffered an injury and missed much of the season, wrapped up their final season as Lady Lions with another District 6 title, a win in the District 6-8-10 subregional and a 20-5 record.
"I'm proud of my team that we were able to come back and cut into that lead," Krull said. "These girls have always had my back and always encouraged me. I am going to miss them."
CHARTIERS VALLEY (44): Shazer 1 0-0 3, Ozbey 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 7 0-2 15, Turnbull 5 5-6 18, Cupka 2 4-6 8, Palumbo 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-2 0, Antonucci 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 15 9-16 44.
ALTOONA (43): M. Eyer 3 2-2 10, Wilt 1 1-2 3, Nguyen-Moore 2 0-0 4, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Krull 7 8-8 23, Cogan 0 0-0 0, R. Eyer 1 1-2 3. Totals -- 14 12-14 43.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Chartiers Valley 16 16 7 5 -- 44
Altoona 9 10 11 13 -- 43
3-point goals: Chartiers Valley 5 (Turnbull 3, Reynolds, Shazer); Altoona 3 (M. Eyer 2, Krull).
Records: Chartiers Valley (17-8); Altoona (20-5).
Officials: Terri Piatek, Cory Widmar, Bill Holtz.