Second-quarter surge propels Lady Tigers
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- It took the Hollidaysburg girls basketball team a little while to shake off the rust Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Tigers were playing for the first time in two weeks.
There were a number of missed layups, 3-point shots and free throws through the first 11 minutes.
Hollidaysburg finally got back on track midway through the second quarter, breaking open a two-point game with a 9-0 run.
That two-minute surge, which included a 3-pointer by Lauren Stevenson, two layups from Bella Vent and another from Makenna Weimert, served as the springboard to a 51-33 first-round PIAA Class 5A playoff victory over Manheim Central on its home court.
"This game is always the toughest in my opinion," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. "You have a long break from the District (4-6) championship game. We had two weeks off after we won that game.
"And anytime you come back from that kind of layoff and you're playing a game in the state playoffs, you have to make sure in the first few minutes of the game that you get the nerves out.
"It took us a little while to do that, a little while to get going."
Vent, a junior guard and the team's leading scorer, was just 1-for-4 from the free throw line in the first half. But she finished strong, hitting all six of her free throw attempts in the second half, when she scored 10 of her game-high 17 points.
"I don't know what happened in the first half -- I was a little too excited, I guess -- but I did better in the second half and made my free throws when we needed them," Vent said.
Weimert, a sophomore guard, finished with 11 points and Stevenson, a junior guard, added eight for the Lady Tigers (23-3) even though both players spent time on the bench in the fourth quarter with four fouls each.
"I think we really started off slow," Stevenson said. "We were missing a lot of layups and free throws. But I think as the game went on, we got back to playing good defense and focused on the little things and we got things back together."
Manheim Central (17-10), the sixth-place finisher in District 3, was making its third straight appearance in the PIAA playoffs.
The Lady Barons started three freshmen, and the guards combined for 29 of their team's 33 points. Gianna Walters led the way with 11, Maddy Gehman contributed 10 and Lilah Walters eight as Manheim Central converted as many two-point field goals as 3-pointers (five each).
"They're going to be a team to be reckoned with in the future, for sure," Jubeck said.
Hollidaysburg advanced to the PIAA second round, where it will meet WPIAL runner-up Armstrong (22-6) at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Lady Hawks beat Palmyra 44-33 in their opener Saturday.
"There's a reason (Armstrong) made it to the WPIAL championship game," Jubeck said. "They're very respected. They have a very good guard in Emma Paul and they have some good, big players underneath.
"It will be a tough game. When you get to the second round of the playoffs, you expect every game moving forward to be very tough. We're going to give each other a battle."
Despite posting a 78-7 overall record dating to February 2021, the Lady Tigers still are searching for that elusive second-round win in PIAA play.
A year ago, Oakland Catholic needed a buzzer-beating shot to sink previously undefeated Hollidaysburg 48-47 in a PIAA second-round playoff game in Armstrong's gymnasium.
"We really want to get past (the second round) this year," said Stevenson, one of six current Lady Tigers who played in that heartbreaking loss. "We learned a lot from that loss last year. I think it's made us stronger and made us work harder for it."
In 2022, Hollidaysburg led another WPIAL school, Chartiers Valley, after one quarter in the second round and trailed by just four points with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Lady Tigers, however, went cold from the floor in the fourth quarter and got into foul trouble and were dealt a 70-47 setback.
"We set our goals at the beginning of the year to get back to this spot so we could give ourselves a little bit of redemption, hopefully, and make it farther than what we have before," Jubeck said.
MANHEIM CENTRAL (33): German 0 0-0 0. Buckwalter 0 0-0 0, Gehman 3 2-2 10, Snyder 0 0-0 0, G. Walters 3 3-4 11, L. Walters 3 1-2 8, Weaver 1 0-0 2, Herman 0 0-0 0, L. Zeiset 0 2-4 2, C. Zeiset 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 10 8-12 33.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (51): DiPangrazio 1 0-0 2, Shoemaker 3 1-2 7, Yohn 0 2-2 2, Stevenson 2 2-2 8, Vent 3 7-10 17, Padamonsky 1 2-2 4, Sidney 0 0-0 0, Weimert 4 2-5 11. Totals -- 13 16-23 51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Manheim Central 10 8 7 8 -- 33
Hollidaysburg 12 15 10 14 -- 51
3-point goals: Manheim Central 5 (Gehman 2, G. Walters 2, L. Walters), Hollidaysburg 3 (Stevenson 2, Weimert).
Records: Manheim Central (17-10), Hollidaysburg (23-3).
Officials: Denny Detwiler, Joe Scialabba, Brian James.