Wagner

There haven’t been a lot of feel-good moments for the Altoona boys basketball team in the AAHS Fieldhouse the last few seasons, but Wednesday was certainly one of them.

Trailing by two with 14 seconds left, senior Chris Wagner drained a corner 3-pointer, and the Mountain Lions survived two Harrisburg shots before the buzzer to come away with a 73-72 victory on senior night.

“It’s amazing,” Wagner said. “Everyone came out for senior night, and there’s no better feeling. It’s something I’ll probably remember forever. Just a perfect scenario on senior night to get the win.”

The Fieldhouse erupted when Wagner’s 3-pointer went in and again when Harrisburg’s Damir Arp’s fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer hit off the side of the rim.

“We have been in games, but what we have to do is learn to finish games,” Altoona coach Doug Pfeffer said. “We need to play four quarters. It’s not going to always be four great quarters, but we have had a tendency to play two good quarters and then take some time off, which hasn’t gone well for us. Today, we battled back. Harrisburg is a heck of a team, and we could have folded, but we stayed together and got the win.”

Altoona started all five of its seniors — Malikai Shields, Logan Wuckovich, Wagner and Ethan and Dylan Hicks. That group played the majority of the first quarter, which ended with the Mountain Lions ahead, 20-12.

“Those kids — they have been through two years of dark times for wins and losses for Altoona basketball,” Pfeffer said. “They stuck around. They could have quit on us. They came back and worked. It’s a special win, but to get it on senior night makes it even more special.”

Altoona led by two at halftime, and the game was tied at 59 going into the fourth quarter. But things looked bleak for the Mountain Lions when Sincere Whitehead turned one of Altoona’s 16 turnovers into a layup that gave the Cougars a 69-63 lead with 3:45 to play.

Eliott McCloskey, playing with four fouls, got the Lions back in it with a putback and a jump shot with 1:23 to play before Trays Walker fouled out for Harrisburg.

Ethan Hicks’ putback with 1:17 tied the game, and his free throw with less than a minute to play put Altoona up by one.

Jaiyon Lewis, who led all scorers with 29 points, finished off a three-point play with 39.3 seconds left to put the Cougars back ahead. Altoona missed a shot on its next possession, and Harrisburg came away with the rebound. A jump ball was called despite Harrisburg coach Demone Maxwell claiming the Mountain Lions were trying to intentionally foul.

“There was a lot of contact in this game,” Pfeffer said. “They thought they were fouled, but I thought the refs did a nice job letting the kids play at the end, and we were lucky there wasn’t more time on the clock than there was.”

The jump ball gave Altoona the ball back with 16.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Justin Pfeffer threw a pass to Wagner just behind the 3-point line for the go-ahead basket.

That wasn’t exactly what the Mountain Lions had drawn up, however.

“I was actually not supposed to do anything on that play,” Wagner said. “I was just supposed to stand there. Harrisburg was all over the play we called, and I just popped out to the corner. Justin made a great pass, and I just knocked it down.”

Coach Pfeffer was thrilled for his senior.

“He’s a kid that has put his time in and has shown that hard work pays off,” Pfeffer said. “He hit some big shots for us tonight, none bigger than that last 3-pointer.”

Lewis brought the ball down the court and was fouled on the floor with 6.9 seconds to play. Altoona had two fouls to give prior to the play.

Arp missed a 3-pointer after the inbounds pass, and Lewis got the rebound. He made a putback, but a foul was called on the floor prior to the shot with 1.5 seconds left, and Arp missed another 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We have great chemistry,” Wagner said. “We have been playing together for years, and it all came together tonight.”

Wagner led Altoona with 16 points, McCloskey added 14 points and Justin Pfeffer and Cody Chathams each added 11 points as the Mountain Lions connected on 10 3-pointers.

Altoona improved to 5-15 overall and 4-9 in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division. Despite there being more overall downs than ups this year, Wagner said Pfeffer and his assistant coaches are why he’s stuck with the team.

“My coaches have been great to me,” Wagner said. “They have been great guys in my life who will continue to be in my life after this. They are great role models.”

HARRISBURG (72): Lewis 12 5-9 29, Smith 2 2-2 6, Walker 2 3-4 7, Brown 3 0-0 7, Arp 8 2-3 21, Sinkler 0 0-0 0, Whitehead 1 0-0 2. Totals — 28 12-18 72.

ALTOONA (73): Shields 2 0-0 4, Wagner 5 3-3 16, E. Hicks 2 3-4 8, Wuckovich 1 0-0 2, D. Hicks 3 0-0 7, Chathams 4 1-2 11, McCloskey 7 0-0 14, Pfeffer 4 0-0 11, Helsel 0 0-0 0, Cochran 0 0-0 0. Totals — 28 7-9 73.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Harrisburg 12 24 23 13 — 72

Altoona 20 18 21 14 — 73

3-point goals: Harrisburg 4 (Arp 3, Brown); Altoona 10 (Pfeffer 3, Wagner 3, Chathams 2, D. Hicks, E. Hicks).

Records: Harrisburg (11-8, 5-8 in Mid-Penn); Altoona (5-15, 4-9 in Mid-Penn).

Officials: Randy Burkett, Klayton Heffner, Kevin Laird.

JV: Altoona, 57-53 (OT). High scorers–Cohen Cochran, A, 24; J. Thomas, H, 19.