JOHNSTOWN — The loss hurt the Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers in more ways than one.

Hollidaysburg remained within striking distance of Greater Johnstown, used a lay-in by Jayden Wolfe with four seconds left to tie the score and force overtime, but fell short in a 68-61 loss to the Trojans on Friday night in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference basketball game at Doc Stofko Gymnasium.

“The $64,000 Question” that faces coach Brad Lear and the Golden Tigers is whether senior strong forward Kasen Metzger will miss any playing time. Metzger injured his ankle while he tried to stop Kemmett Armstrong on a third-quarter fast break.

Lear said it was too early to tell whether Metzger broke his ankle or badly sprained it.

“He’s averaging 18.5 points a game right now, and he’s been playing really well. He’s one of our big rebounders in the inside. And he’s a scoring threat at all three levels,” he said.

Metzger left the game with 6:34 left in the third period. He watched the duration of the game with an ice pack over his right ankle. He was on crutches while waiting for the rest of the squad to board the team bus.

“I thought we responded pretty well to losing him, especially when he went out. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter or the overtime. That’s a big problem for us to replace, especially since he’s started so many games for us the last four years,” Lear said.

The Trojans assumed a 20-12 lead in the second period. Senior Tommy Ashcom paced Johnstown with 12 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.

The Golden Tigers stayed within arm’s length, however.

“They’re really well-coached, they’re a really good team, and they have a lot of guys who can play. And they’re from a pedigree of winning. They’re not going to fold up. We knew that. So we had to keep fighting, too,” Johnstown coach Ryan Durham said.

Hollidaysburg saw a break when point guard Raheem Braswell fouled out with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter. The Trojans struggled against the full-court press to the point of calling two timeouts while still trying to advance past the midcourt stripe.

“The game was (decided) at the free-throw line. We shot 10 of 20. You can’t go on the road in an environment like that against a team like them and shoot 50 percent from the free-throw line,” Lear said.

Johnstown led, 53-51, at that juncture, with 43 seconds left. Omaurie Dudley divided a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining to restore the Trojans’ three-point lead.

“We had some young guys in the game. So they didn’t want to make any bad decisions. And we had all of our timeouts. So we said, ‘Listen if you’re questionable, just call timeout.’ We’ll reset, we’ll get it in. Just make sure of it,”’ Durham said.

Tyson Delerme made good on a three-point play with 25.1 seconds left to tie the score at 54. Ashcom’s two free throws followed with 17.6 seconds to go.

Wolfe’s lay-in tied the score at 56. Ashcom gave the crowd a brief thrill when his attempt at a buzzer-beater struck the back of the rim and landed out.

“They kept going and going. And we stayed composed as much as we had to (in order) to get the win,” Durham said.

The Golden Tigers made only 3-of-6 at the free throw line in the overtime period. Lear said the Tigers were their own worst enemies at times.

“It was the (missed) free throws and unforced turnovers (that hurt). We had people open, and (we) threw a lazy pass or threw a bad pass,” Lear said.

Hollidaysburg sophomore Vincent Albarano came through with 19 points, followed by junior J.J. Stultz and Metzger with 12 points apiece.

Amir Robinson added 16 points, and Kemmett Armstrong threw in 14 points for the Trojans.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (61): Delerme 1 0-0 3, Stulz 5 2-5 12, Albarano 6 5-7 9, Metzger 5 1-1 12, Zimmerman 4 0-2 8, Wolfe 2 0-2 5, 3, Frazier 0 2-2 3. Totals — 23 10-20 61.

JOHNSTOWN (68): K. Armstrong 4 6-8 14, Braswell 3 2-2 8, Robinson 7 1-6 16, Ashcom 7 5-6 22, M. Armstrong 2 0-0 5, Dudley 1 1-2 3, Totals — 24 15-24 68.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 11 13 13 19 5 – 61

Johnstown 15 13 13 15 12 – 68

3-point goals: Hollidaysburg 5 (Albarano 2, Delerme, Metzger, Wolfe); Johnstown 5 (Ashcom 3, M. Armstrong, Robinson).

Officials: Justin Frear, Joe Hanna, Ethan Vipond.

Records: Hollidaysburg (9-3, 7-3 LHAC), Johnstown (10-3, 9-2 LHAC).

JV: No game.