Altoona girls program celebrates its 1,000 victories

Eyer reaches milestone

By Andy Stine

astine@altoonamirror.com

It's fitting that the slang term for $1,000 dollars is 'a grand' with the way the Altoona girls basketball team celebrated Friday evening.

The round number of 1,000 was a central theme for the night for the Lady Lions in a grand 68-23 victory over Chambersburg at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

It was a night for the program to celebrate the recent 1,000 victories as a program with nearly 60 former Lady Lions attending for a halftime ceremony to commemorate the milestone.

To put the cherry on top, current Altoona senior Melana Eyer scored her 1,000th career point on the opening possession of the second quarter.

"We always talk as a team that the program is bigger than each one of us," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "We're playing for something bigger than us."

Fleegle was one of four Lady Lion coaches on hand Friday evening as former leaders of the program in Mark Sapita, Craig Long and Miriam Colledge were all in attendance.

The school's girls program was officially started in 1969 under Barbara Johnson before handing it off to Art Taneyhill in 1976. Taneyhill has nearly half of the program's career victories with 471 in his 20 years at the helm of Altoona.

It's a program that has eye-opening numbers across the board. Included in the accolades are four PIAA championships, two national championships recognized by USA Today, 42 Division I signees, countless Division II and III players and a WNBA player in Candace Futrell.

"It's been a very surreal experience," Colledge, who was the coach from 2015-19 and accounted for 80 of those wins, said. "Being asked to attend this and then you actually get here, and you start seeing the people you played with, your teammates, and the players I actually coached, it's so special. You just can't capture a moment like this."

Another coach was in attendance as a former player in Kristi (Little) Kaack. Kaack, now the current coach at Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, scored 1,177 points in her career.

"When I was talking to the ladies earlier, I got a little teary-eyed," Kaack said. "This means a lot to me. I loved my years at Altoona. I got to play with a phenomenal group, and just the tradition that came before me, and it continues to follow, I'm just thankful to be a part of that."

All of Altoona's four state championship trophies from 1986, 1988, 1995 and 1996 were on the court for the ceremony with AAHS athletic director Phil Riccio.

"It's been an amazing 1,000 victories," Riccio told the crowd. "It takes a community to do this.

"Every young lady in this community looks up to you and aspires to be you."

Altoona held a 21-5 lead after the first quarter before Eyer collected her 1,000th point with a lay-in to start the second quarter.

"I feel like I'm celebrating the history of our program and the culture we've been growing the past few years," Eyer said.

"She's been with me almost since I got the job," Fleegle said. "Watching her grow into a special young lady, you're proud. Four years with me, I could coach her hard and there was never any attitude. She just wanted to get better."

Brionna Hudson led Altoona with 16 points for the game, while Eyer poured in 15 points.

Altoona (16-2) travels to Cumberland Valley on Monday.

CHAMBERSBURG (23): Warren 1 0-0 2, Mills 5 2-2 15, White 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Evans 2 0-0 4, Whiteley 0 0-0 0, Noel 1 0-0 2, Woy 0 0-0 0, Rife 0 0-0 0. Totals--9 2-2 23.

ALTOONA (68): M. Eyer 6 0-0 15, Nguyen-Moore 2 0-0 4, Hudson 8 0-0 16, Wilt 3 0-0 8, Harpster 1 0-0 3, R. Eyer 3 2-2 11, Cogan 1 0-0 2, Beltz 0 0-2 0, Stadtmiller 0 0-0 0, Cuspert 0 0-0 0, Heyward 2 0-0 4, Beck 1 2-2 5, Lantzy 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Neuner 0 0-2 0. Totals--27 4-8 68.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Chambersburg 5 7 3 8--23

Altoona 21 20 16 11--68

3-point goals: Chambersburg 3 (Mills 3); Altoona 10 (M. Eyer 3, Wilt 2, Harpster, R. Eyer 3, Beck).

Records: Chambersburg (3-12); Altoona (16-2).

JV: Altoona, 56-10. High scorers--Noel, C, 5; Beck, A, 15.