Trending
By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
There are some nights where everything just goes right for you on the basketball court, whether it's shooting or just coming up with great plays on defense.
Tuesday night, the Altoona Lady Lions used a mixed bag of everything on both sides of the floor as they went on to crush Carlisle, 73-21, at the Altoona Fieldhouse in a Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division game.
"When we play to our potential, we defend, we run the floor and our feet get set," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "It was one of those nights tonight where it was contagious. Everyone was knocking down shots."
The Lady Lions scored five times from beyond the arc in the opening quarter -- four of those coming from senior Melana Eyer -- as they went on to knock down 11 of them for the night.
Eyer set the tempo right off of the opening tip with a bucket as she went on to lead Altoona with a game-high 22 points -- 18 from beyond the arc.
"I'm always either at the Summit or in (the Fieldhouse gym) working on my shot," Eyer said. "I'm just happy that they fell tonight."
The Lady Lions' first quarter dominance continued with a little over a minute to play as Lanie Wilt drained a putback, which helped put the home team up 27-12 after one. Wilt finished the night in double figures with 10.
In the second quarter, things slowed down for a moment before Altoona exploded again, outscoring the Lady Herd 17-3 during the quarter. Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore scored on a spin move for two of her 11 points to give Altoona a 44-15 lead at the break.
"Altoona's a great team," Carlisle coach Kelsey Stansyszyn said. "All of their guards are Division II, Division I basketball players. We're very inexperienced, and pretty much they beat us in every single category. They shot lights out; they rebounded."
Altoona buried 29 total field goals to Carlisle's 10 and held the Thundering Herd to three single digit quarters -- giving up no more than four after the first stanza.
"I think it's just our energy and our chemistry as a team," Eyer credited for the Lady Lions' success. "It doesn't matter if you're a freshman or a senior, we look at everyone the same."
Fleegle credited the efforts defensively but also noted that he believes that score was not an indicator of how good the Lady Herd are.
"They were lockdown," he said. "They were not allowing them to get what they wanted to get. (Carlisle)'s a good team. They lost to Central Dauphin by 13 last Friday.
"We were not taking them lightly. We came in prepared. The kids had a good practice yesterday, and it showed. It was a good win against a team that's much better than that scoreboard states."
Stansyszyn believes this can serve as a good teaching tool for her team.
"This is going to be a test of mental toughness for us," she said. "We're very young. Are we going to take this and let it determine how we play the rest of the season or are we going to get better and now effort is going to be there again just like it has been? It's a good test for us."
CARLISLE (21): Hancock 0 0-0 0, Ewell 2 0-0 5, Hairston 1 0-0 2, Heckman 3 0-0 6, Chandler 0 0-0 0, Schmick 1 1-1 3, Posey 1 0-0 2, Palmer 0 0-0 0, Gilbert 0 0-0 0, Eiserman 0 0-0 0, McMeekin 1 0-0 3. Totals -- 10 1-1 21.
ALTOONA (73): M. Eyer 8 0-0 22, Wilt 3 4-4 10, Nguyen-Moore 5 0-0 11, Harpster 2 0-0 6, Hudson 3 0-0 6, Cogan 2 0-0 4, R. Eyer 2 0-0 6, Heyward 0 0-2 0, Stadtmiller 1 0-0 2, Beck 0 0-0 0, Lantzy 2 0-0 4, Wagner 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Neuner 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 29 4-6 73.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Carlisle 12 3 2 4 -- 21
Altoona 27 17 15 14 -- 73
3-point goals: Carlisle None, Altoona 11 (M. Eyer 6, Nguyen-Moore, R. Eyer 2, Harpster 2)
Records: Carlisle (2-3), Altoona (5-2).
Officials: Chris Rickens, Brandon Hoover, Damon Rickens
JV: Altoona, 45-29. High scorers--Brynne Eiserman, C, 10; Allannah Heyward, A, 13.