Basketball

Eyer tops on the list of treys for winning Altoona girls

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

Altoona Area High School celebrated its AAHS Fieldhouse's 50th anniversary on Monday, and Lady Lions senior Melana Eyer became the record holder for most 3-pointers by any girl who has ever played on the court for that program.

Eyer entered Altoona's game against Harrisburg tied with Kayla DeCriscio for the career mark with 150 treys and connected on three in the Lady Lions' 65-25 victory to put herself alone in the record book.

"It feels really great, and it's a great accomplishment," Eyer said. "It's showing that my hard work is paying off. Things like this were what was motivating me to work hard and get back at it. I'm super grateful that I'm able to be here and be able to play."

Eyer met DeCriscio, who is now an assistant coach at Division I Niagara, when she was working her way up the Altoona program.

"I remember her from junior high," Eyer said. "She would come into practices and coach us. She was a great player for Altoona."

The record was nearly out of reach for Eyer after an offseason side-by-side accident that left not only her season in jeopardy but for the night it happened at least -- her life as well.

But Eyer attacked rehab and fought her way back to the starting lineup before the season tipped off.

"It's amazing," Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. "The whole season and having her for all of it has been amazing. Considering everything that happened to her in the offseason and going to visit her in the hospital, all of this was very doubtful. If anyone was going to do it, it was going to be her, but sitting there sharing those hours in the hospital to where she is today -- I'm just blessed as a coach to be part of her journey."

Eyer made two 3-pointers as part of Altoona's 11-0 run to start the game during which Harrisburg turned the ball over on nine of its first 10 possessions.

Her sister, Raylin, came off the bench to drill two more and make it 17-2. Raylin Eyer finished the game with a team-high 13 points on a night 15 different Lady Lions played.

In addition to Altoona celebrating 50 years of the Fieldhouse, it was senior night for Melana Eyer, Lanie Wilt and Lydia Beltz. Beltz started and nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Melana Eyer and Wilt started the fourth quarter -- and Eyer made another 3-pointer -- before the pair checked out of the game to an ovation.

"The games that we've had full crowds like the Hollidaysburg doubleheader with the boys, it was fun for the girls to get to experience an environment like you used to hear about," Fleegle said. "We have had a lot of good victories here. It's a wonderful place to play. The facility is one of the best in Blair County."

Sophia Harrison and Brytten Gray each scored eight points for Harrisburg, which finished its season 1-21.

Altoona improved to 20-2 and will play at Central Dauphin East in the Mid-Penn Conference semifinals tonight at 6 p.m. against Mechanicsburg. If the Lady Lions win, they will play either Trinity or Middletown in the championship game at Milton Hershey on Thursday.

"Mechanicsburg is 22-0 and ranked fifth in the state," Fleegle said. "We were able to rest a lot of our starters in the second half today. Hopefully we go there and play basketball to our potential. That has been our phrase before every game. If we do that, we feel we'll be in most games."

HARRISBURG (25): Harrison 4 0-0 8, Gray 1 5-8 8, Sweigart 0 0-0 0, Brown 2 1-5 5, Jones 2 0-0 4, Williams 0 0-0 0, Gebrezgi 0 0-0 0, Graham 0 0-0 0, Yameojo 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 9 6-13 25.

ALTOONA (65): M. Eyer 3 0-0 9, Nguyen-Moore 2 0-0 4, Hudson 2 0-0 4, Wilt 1 1-2 4, Beltz 3 2-2 8, Harpster 0 0-0 0, R. Eyer 5 0-0 13, Cogan 2 2-4 6, Cuspert 1 0-0 2, Stadtmiller 0 0-0 0, Heyward 2 0-0 5, Beck 3 1-1 8, Lantzy 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 25 6-9 65.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Harrisburg 5 4 9 7 -- 25

Altoona 24 17 7 17 -- 65

3-point goals: Harrisburg 1 (Gray); Altoona 10 (M. Eyer 3, R. Eyer 3, Wilt, Heyward, Beck, Wilt).

Records: Harrisburg (1-21); Altoona (20-2).

Officials: Jarryd Burkett, Emma Musser, Curtis Miller.