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By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
Even though there is still a lot to play for this season, it's already been a special season for the Altoona girls basketball team.
The program crossed the 1,000-win mark in its history. Melana Eyer got 1,000 points on the same night that the Lady Lions celebrated the 1,000 wins. Lanie Wilt isn't too far away from reaching the 1,000-point milestone either.
And there's evidence that the Lady Lions' brilliance isn't going away anytime soon in Brionna Hudson.
The freshman flashed all kinds of facets in her game on Thursday evening, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds in a 58-36 victory over Central Dauphin at the Fieldhouse.
"She's a beast," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "It goes back to her having one of the best attitudes, hard worker, a down-to-earth player. You put her in for 32 minutes, she's a beast."
Make no mistake about it. The leaders for the Lady Lions such as Eyer and Wilt have a major hand in the team's dominance. Altoona (18-2) now has a 15-game winning streak with two games left in the regular season.
"It's been really fun," Hudson said. "We practice with each other, hang out with each other, and I think that's helped us with winning all these games honestly."
"It's hard to tell with a freshman, especially when you're playing the type of competition we play," Fleegle said. "I think she's very blessed with the group that's around her, welcoming her and the culture that we have here. She got in and she got to do what she does best and play basketball. As the season goes on, she's learning our concepts and our defense even better, and you can see it on the court."
Central Dauphin (14-7) also noticed a lot in Altoona's potential rising star.
"Chris and I talked before the game, and we talked about how much of a difference maker she is this year," Lady Ram coach Randy Gambelunghe said. "She allows all their guards opportunities because you worry so much about her running the floor. She can stretch the floor. You have trouble with a big guarding her, if a small guards her she can post, and defensively she's one of the best players in the league as a freshman. She's just phenomenal. I was so impressed tonight. I said to Chris after, 'My goodness.'"
Altoona held a 13-8 lead after the first quarter, but started to get some elbow room toward the end of the first half.
The Lady Rams had cut the deficit to four at 17-13 with 2:56 to play in the half before the Lady Lions finished the remainder of the half on an 8-0 run to go up 25-13 at the break.
The rally started when Hudson got her own rebound off a missed shot, but created her own 3-point play as she was fouled on the way back up to the basket. Hudson added another free throw and a late layup while Eyer also had a basket in the late run.
Altoona had the lead up to 18 points within the first couple minutes of the second half after baskets from Hudson, Wilt, and Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore to go up 31-13.
Wilt also scored in double figures with Hudson as she finished with 15 points.
Mikayla Matincheck and Kayannah Taylor had 14 points apiece to lead Central Dauphin.
Altoona travels to Hollidaysburg on Monday before hosting Harrisburg on Wednesday to finish the regular season.
CENTRAL DAUPHIN (36): Sembrot 0 0-0 0, Dickerson 1 0-0 3, Matincheck 5 4-4 14, Taylor 6 0-0 14, Green 2 1-1 5, Matthews 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 14 5-5 36.
ALTOONA (58): M. Eyer 2 0-0 4, Nguyen-Moore 4 0-0 8, Hudson 9 3-7 23, Wilt 6 2-2 15, Harpster 3 0-0 8, R. Eyer 0 0-0 0, Cogan 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 24 5-9 58.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Dauphin 8 5 12 11 -- 36
Altoona 13 12 16 17 -- 58
3-point goals: Central Dauphin 3 (Dickerson, Taylor 2); Altoona 5 (Hudson 2, Wilt, Harpster 2).
Records: Central Dauphin (14-7); Altoona (18-2).
Officials: Chris Rickens, Dave Heim, Brandon Hoover.
JV: Altoona, 39-7. High scorers--Bangert, CD, 3; Beck, R. Eyer, Cogan, A, 7 each.