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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- While the Hollidaysburg Area High School boys basketball team had plenty of turnover to start the season, the Golden Tigers have shown some promising signs through their first seven games.
"We just work well as a team," senior Brady Steiner said. "We do a lot of team bonding together, and we just play for each other, share the ball well and work hard."
And they will head into the Christmas break with a perfect record intact as a result.
Thursday night, that chemistry showed as the Tigers jumped out to an early 21-point lead at the break as they drubbed Clearfield, 71-47, in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference action at the Hollidaysburg Area High School gym.
Hollidaysburg's offense got some balance early on as Jayden Wolfe, knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a steal from Jay Albarano, which set up Gavin Bell for a bucket to make it 15-6 after the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, it was Ben Zimmerman early on getting a hook shot before that set off the efforts from Kasen Metzger as he knocked down a 3 and went 5-for-5 from the line. He added a 3-pointer along with a pair from Steiner to make it 38-17 at the half.
Metzger led the Tigers with 21, and Steiner added 20 as they went on to bury 10 3s between them.
"If you look at how they shoot the ball, you can tell they really work hard," Clearfield coach Nate Glunt said of the Tiger dynamic duo. "The way they shot the ball -- they made a couple of step-back 3s, the one we fouled (Steiner), and they still made it. They do an excellent job of moving without the ball to open areas.
"(Hollidaysburg coach) Brad (Lear) coaches them really well. It's a full team."
While Lear believes there is still more to be done, he credits his team for how quickly it has grown up so far.
"I think that's a testament to the character of the kids," he said. "When we come down the court, all eyes are up. We're thinking about you, instead of thinking about me. I think the kids feed off that. They love making the extra pass. Our bench involvement has been really good because the kids involve everybody."
Braison Patrick led the Bison with 21 points, scoring 14 of his points in the third before being held off the score sheet in the fourth.
"We changed defenses up a little bit on (Patrick), and in the fourth quarter he didn't score," Lear said. "In the fourth quarter, we changed the mindset of defense, and I said sometimes you got to morph into something else that you're not usually. In the fourth quarter, Jay (Albarano) just didn't let him get the ball."
Hollidaysburg will be off until Dec. 27 when the Tigers host Central Cambria for an early afternoon matchup.
CLEARFIELD (47): Collins 0 0-0 0, Ev. Maines 4 3-4 14, Patrick 9 0-0 21, J. Rumfola 0 0-0 0, C. Kaskan 0 0-0 0, Glunt 3 4-4 10, Ea. Maines 0 0-0 0, Lynch 0 0-0 0, Strishock 0 0-0 0, Broad 0 0-0 0, Curry 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 16 9-10 47.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (71): Wolfe 3 0-0 7, Delerme 0 0-0 0, B. Steiner 6 3-4 20, Metzger 6 7-9 21, Bell 2 0-0 4, Zimmerman 3 0-0 6, J. Albarano 3 0-0 8, V. Albarano 1 0-0 2, Stultz 0 1-2 1, McDade 1 0-0 2, Figard 0 0-0 0, T. Steiner 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-2 0, Kirsch 0 0-0 0, Joseph 0 0-0 0, Padamonsky 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 25 11-18 71.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Clearfield 6 11 21 9 -- 47
Hollidaysburg 15 23 20 13 -- 71
3-point goals: Clearfield 5 (Ev. Maines 2, Patrick 3), Hollidaysburg 10 (Wolfe, B. Steiner 5, Metzger 2, J. Albarano 2)
Records: Clearfield (1-5), Hollidaysburg (7-0).
Officials: Bill Pfeffer, Craig Andros, Kevin Laird.
JV: Hollidaysburg, 42-32. High scorers--Tanner Kaskan, C, 10; JJ Stultz, H, 9.