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By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
EBENSBURG -- As the calendar turns to February, the thought for some on the high school basketball hardwood is now on putting on the finishing touches on playoff preparations.
Friday night's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchup between Hollidaysburg and Bishop Carroll Catholic had the feel of a postseason game from the moment the ball was tipped.
The Huskies landed the first punches as they used turnovers and held off Golden Tiger rallies to take at one point a 10-point lead.
Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear didn't have a doubt that his team would find a way to climb back into the game.
"I told the kids I'm not taking a timeout, we're down 10, because we're never out of a game," he said. "I have the confidence in them that they're going to claw back, and I know I'm going to need my timeouts as I did at the end of the game."
The Tigers (17-2) responded kindly as they picked up the pace defensively and hung on against the Huskies for the 71-70 triumph at the Bishop Carroll gym.
Lear believes that the record that Bishop Carroll has posted so far (7-10) isn't indicator of the team they truly are.
"That's a great test for us because we were thinking we were like the world beaters," he said. "That's a really good test because that knocks you down a peg. Their schedule is really good."
Jace Casses -- a week after scoring 50 points in a win over Richland -- powered much of the Huskies' effort offensively in the first as he knocked down four 3-pointers with a couple of them ending what appeared to be early comebacks by the Golden Tigers.
Hollidaysburg then started to flip the script a little bit as Brady Steiner cashed in on three turnovers and scored six of his 16 points.
Will Tremel, however, answered with four 3s for the Huskies as they took a 43-35 lead going into the break.
"We're not ever going to fault our effort," BC coach Cosie Aliquo said. "Our effort was there. When you're playing a team like that, you got to play perfect, and we didn't. They're good, we turned it over and they capitalized (in the second half)."
Tremel led the Huskies with 19 points followed by Casses with 18. The team buried 14 3s.
"Anytime you have someone that can shoot the ball like Casses, you're only one shot away every possession from being down 10 or up 10 if you're on their team," Lear said. "We were very disappointed because we're giving up 50 points a game. We were very disappointed in our first half effort, and the amount of times he was able to get loose."
In the third, Hollidaysburg took over as they broke the Husky press for 18 points, including six from Ben Zimmerman, which tied the game at 53. Zimmerman finished with 14.
"When you're playing against a team that presses like that, your bottom guy is always going to be open," Lear said. "I just said to Ben (Zimmerman) stay low, don't come up, we don't need you to break the press. We need them to break it, and them to lift, and you to make layups. He's a smart kid, he listened, and he stayed low. He didn't have to shoot it more than 4 feet the whole night."
Kasen Metzger from there took over in the fourth as he drew a pair of bonus free throw opportunities as he scored 10 of his game-high 20 points.
The Golden Tigers will now shift their focus to Altoona on Monday while Bishop Carroll will head to Penn Cambria.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (71): Steiner 7 1-1 16, Metzger 8 2-4 20, Zimmerman 7 0-0 14, J. Albarano 2 3-4 7, V. Albarano 2 0-0 4, Wolfe 2 1-2 7, Delerme 0 1-2 1, Bell 2 0-0 4. Totals: 29 8-14 71.
BISHOP CARROLL (70): Casses 6 0-0 18, Tremel 6 2-2 19, L. Walker 3 3-4 9, J. Phillips 1 3-4 5, Becquet 3 2-2 8, B. Walker 3 2-2 11. Totals: 22 12-14 70.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Hollidaysburg 17 18 18 18 -- 71
Bishop Carroll 22 21 10 17 -- 70
3-point field goals: Hollidaysburg 5 (Wolfe 2, Steiner, Metzger 2), Bishop Carroll 14 (Casses 6, Tremel 5, B. Walker 3)
Records: Hollidaysburg (17-2), Bishop Carroll (7-10).
JV: Hollidaysburg, 58-28. High scorers: Coen Figard, H, 9; Joe Phillips, BC, 7.