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By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
It's been quite a week for the Altoona girls basketball team.
It began with up-and-coming freshman Brionna Hudson receiving the Mirror's Athlete of the Week before getting the program's 1,000th win over rival State College on Tuesday night. The week culminated with the Lady Lions getting their 11th win in a row with a 61-35 victory over Central Dauphin East on Friday night at the Fieldhouse.
"It's been really fun," Hudson said. "We've been getting in the gym and just putting in the work. It's nice to see us coming out on top after all the work we've put in. We're just going to continue on and hopefully keep getting wins."
A tight game in the first half turned into a mercy rule game in the second half, thanks to a 27-point effort from Altoona in the third quarter.
The Lady Lions led only 23-17 midway through the second quarter, but turned it into a 30-point running clock by the last minute of the third quarter.
"There was a lid on the rim, which is good for us to experience because we needed to defend," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "There's going to be games in our future where things aren't going well with our shot, and we need to be able to find ways to score and keep a lead until our shot comes around. We're such a good shooting team overall that it was just a matter of time until the percentages went back in our favor."
The Lady Panthers, who also lost to Altoona in Harrisburg in December, fell to 5-9 on the season.
"We knew they would make a big run because they're a good team," CD East coach Terrill Seward said. "But we weren't into the flow of the game. We weren't getting into our sets. We weren't hustling. It was like we didn't want to play in the third quarter."
Altoona led just 18-13 after the first quarter with Lanie Wilt scoring seven points, including one of her three 3-pointers on the night.
After CD East's Samirah Mamoudou's basket cut her team's deficit to six points at 23-17 in the second quarter, the Lady Lions finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 30-17 lead at halftime. Wilt splashed her second three of the night to end the half.
Eight Altoona players got in the scoring column in the third quarter in the 27-point explosion. Raylin Eyer led the way with a pair of treys as Altoona led 57-28 after three quarters.
Altoona is now 14-2 on the season.
"It's been a very successful week," Fleegle said. "With the kids that we have, it's about continuing the work. We have a lot of goals ahead of us we want to accomplish. It's nice to get these small victories throughout the season, but there's a bigger picture."
CENTRAL DAUPHIN EAST (35): Mamoudou 8 2-3 19, Douglas 0 0-0 0, McCarthy 1 0-0 2, Spann 4 0-0 8, Walker 1 0-0 3, Davis 0 1-2 1, Griffis 1 0-0 2, Hoover 0 0-0 0, Thuc 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 15 3-5 35.
ALTOONA (61): M. Eyer 3 3-3 9, Nguyen-Moore 3 1-2 7, Hudson 5 3-3 14, Wilt 5 0-0 13, Harpster 1 0-0 2, R. Eyer 3 0-0 8, Cogan 2 0-0 4, Beltz 1 0-0 2, Stadtmiller 0 0-0 0, Cuspert 0 2-2 2, Heyward 0 0-0 0, Lantzy 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Beck 0 0-0 0, Neuner 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 23 9-10 61.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Dauphin East 13 4 11 7 -- 35
Altoona 18 12 27 4 -- 61
3-point goals: Central Dauphin East 2 (Mamoudou, Walker); Altoona 6 (Hudson, Wilt 3, R. Eyer 2).
Records: Central Dauphin East (5-9); Altoona (14-2).
Officials: Tracy Cornelius, Denny Detwiler, Joe Scialabba.
JV: Altoona, 55-11. High scorers--Griffis, CDE, 5; R. Eyer, A, 13.