The top two high school girls basketball teams in the Mid-Penn Conference squared off Tuesday night at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse, and the matchup lived up to its advance billing in every way.

In a back-and-forth battle in which the momentum, and the lead, changed hands frequently throughout the game, Central Dauphin closed the game on a 15-5 run to grind out a 46-42 victory over Altoona.

“This was a great high school basketball game between two really good teams,” said Central Dauphin coach Randy Gambelunghe, whose team improved its overall record to 11-1 and its unbeaten conference mark to 6-0. “Altoona is ready for every game, and playing them, especially on the road, is really difficult.

“But I thought that our girls really showed a will to win this game,” Gambelunghe added. “I’m proud of how we battled back after falling behind in the fourth quarter tonight. I thought that our girls really kept their composure.”

Altoona coach Chris Fleegle, whose Lady Lions dropped to 9-3 overall while suffering their first conference loss in six outings, gave Central Dauphin its just due as well.

“That was a good basketball game between two teams who entered the game with 5-0 records in the conference,” Fleegle said. “It was a case of two of the best teams in the Mid-Penn duking it out, where one good team wins and another good team loses. We were just on the short end of it tonight.”

Altoona scored the first seven points in the fourth quarter, on a fast-break layup by senior guard Achiera Cuspert, a driving bucket by senior guard Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore, and a 3-pointer from the left corner by Cuspert, to take a 37-31 lead, before Central Dauphin came scoring back.

Sophomore Kayannah Taylor — who scored a game-high 19 points — hit a 3-pointer from the top of the circle before Altoona junior guard Raylin Eyer countered that with a traditional 3-point play in which she converted a free throw after being fouled while making a layup, pulling Altoona back ahead, 40-34.

That was the last hurrah for the Lady Lions, however, as senior guard Syncere Matthews scored a layup off the drive, and senior Jazmine Zakhar knocked down a trey from the right side to give Central Dauphin the lead for good, 43-42 with 1:15 left.

“We were down two, and that was a clutch shot by Jazzy there,” Gambelunghe said of Zakhar’s big shot.

After Altoona missed a field goal try and Central Dauphin regained possession, Taylor was fouled with 34 seconds left. She converted both free throws, finishing the night 7-of-7 from the line, to stake Central Dauphin to a 45-42 advantage.

“Kayanah has some of the best ball skills of any player that I’ve ever coached,” Gambelunghe said. “She has an incredible ability to get to the rim, and she finished some really tough layups tonight.”

Altoona couldn’t get an open 3-point look in the final seconds, and after CD junior Olivia Green came up with a loose ball with five seconds left, she was fouled, and made one of two free throws to give CD a two-possession 46-42 lead and put the game out of reach for Altoona.

“They made a couple effort plays and got a couple offensive rebounds late in the game, and we had a turnover inbounding the ball,” Fleegle said. “Those were all impactful things in the moment.”

Sophomore standout forward Brionna Hudson led Altoona with 18 points and also collected a game-high 14 rebounds, while Nguyen-Moore chipped in 15 points for the Lady Lions, who converted 17 of their 45 floor shots for a 37.8 percent clip.

Central Dauphin made 17 of 42 shots (40.5 percent) and was led by Green’s 11 rebounds in a game in which both teams finished with 28 rebounds.

Fleegle praised the efforts of Hudson and Nguyen-Moore, saying that “I can’t say enough about those two — they kind of put us on their backs and gave us a fighting chance,” and also offered kudos to Cuspert for igniting the Lady Lions’ spark at the outset of the fourth quarter.

“Credit to Achiera,” Fleegle said. “Those were five big points that she made for us in the fourth quarter.”

Game notes: A moment of silence was held before the game, recognizing the recent passings of iconic Altoona businessman Steve Sheetz and former long-time Altoona Mirror sports editor Jim Lane — both of whom were Altoona High School graduates who made very positive and impactful lifetime contributions in the community … Altoona hosts Harrisburg Friday night, while Central Dauphin will visit State College.

CENTRAL DAUPHIN (46): Matthews 4 0-1 9, Taylor 5 7-7 19, Green 4 1-2 9, Matincheck 1 0-2 2, Sembrot 2 0-0 4, Zakhar 1 0-0 3, Froelich 0 0-0 0. Totals – 17 8-12 46.

ALTOONA (42): Hudson 8 2-2 18, Eyer 1 1-3 3, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Nguyen-Moore 6 2-4 15, Cogan 0 1-2 1, Cuspert 2 0-0 5. Totals -17 6-11 42.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Dauphin 15 5 11 15–46

Altoona 10 13 7 12–42

3-point goals: Central Dauphin 4 (Taylor 2, Matthews, Zakhar); Altoona 2 (Nguyen-Moore, Cuspert).

Records: Central Dauphin (11-1 overall, 6-0 in the Mid-Penn Conference); Altoona (9-3, 5-1).

Officials: Clark Adelman, Dave Heim, Brad Martz.

JV: Altoona, 55-20. High scorers–Saniyah Butler-Davis, CD, 7; Raya Potts, A, 11.