Kate Steiner

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The senior-laden Hollidaysburg Lady Tigers basketball team faced a stiff challenge from a young, scrappy and inspired Westmont Hilltop squad in a Laurel Highlands Conference matchup Friday night at the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School gymnasium.

Nothing wrong with that — in fact, it’s just what the proverbial basketball doctor would order coming into the regular season’s home stretch — veteran Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said after the Lady Tigers finally gained some breathing room in the fourth quarter and pounded out a 41-32 victory.

“Those teams from Cambria County are well-coached,” said Jubeck, whose Lady Tigers improved to 15-2 overall and 13-1 in the conference. “They all play well, and they all really get after it. These are the types of games that your team needs during the course of a season.”

While Hollidaysburg’s starting lineup Friday included four seniors and a junior, Westmont was missing an injured starting player, and had two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior in its starting lineup.

The game was a tooth-and-nail battle well into the fourth quarter before Hollidaysburg came up with a few big defensive stops and put together a nine-point run to secure the victory.

After a bucket by freshman Audra Rudolph pulled Westmont to within one point, 31-30, Hollidaysburg went up 33-30 when senior Alana Lightner scored off an inside feed.

Senior post Clare Padamonsky — who led the Lady Tigers in rebounds with seven — hit one of two free throws, before senior Makenna Weimert scored a fast-break layup after junior Kate Steiner came up with a steal.

Following another empty possession by Westmont, Steiner got free down the court for a layup to give the Lady Tigers a 38-30 edge with two minutes left. Weimert, who scored a game-high 15 points, hit two free throws to complete the nine-point Hollidaysburg surge and give the Lady Tigers a 40-30 lead with 15 seconds left.

“We got three stops in a row there, and when we were able to do that, we were able to convert on the offensive end,” said Jubeck, whose Lady Tigers also got nine points apiece from Lightner and Steiner in the game.

Westmont (7-8 overall, 7-7 in the conference) was led by junior forward Devyn Shingler’s 13 points and game-high nine rebounds.

Hollidaysburg led by just one point, 19-18 at halftime and by only three points, 27-24 entering the pivotal fourth quarter, which the Lady Tigers carried, 14-8.

“We have a super young team, and our girls played their hearts out tonight,” Westmont coach Brittany Eisenhuth said. “Hollidaysburg is a great team and an experienced team, but we hung with them the whole time. I just think that our players got a little tired at the end.

“We were missing one of our starters, who is a junior, but we have two freshmen who really stepped up big for us tonight,” Eisenhuth said of freshmen Rudolph and Gabby Filia. “Hollidaysburg is a very well-coached and physical team. They got some big stops in the fourth quarter, but our girls battled the whole game.”

Hollidaysburg hosts Penns Valley in another conference game Monday night. The Lady Tigers’ home game with archrival Altoona, originally scheduled for Tuesday as part of a boys-girls doubleheader between the two schools, has been moved to Thursday, Feb. 26.

“We have a long stretch ahead of us here with a lot of games,” Jubeck said. “Hopefully, we can get through it with everybody healthy.”

WESTMONT HILLTOP (32): Shingler 5 3-6 13, Rudolph 3 1-2 8, Gibbons 0 2-5 2, Lynch 3 0-0 6, Filia 1 1-2 3, Slatcoff 0 0-0 0. Totals – 12 7-15 32.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (41): Weimert 6 2-2 15, Padamonsky 0 3-4 3, Lightner 4 1-4 9, Sidney 2 0-0 5, Steiner 3 1-1 9, Hayer 0 0-0 0. Totals -15 7-11 41.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Westmont Hilltop 13 5 6 8–32

Hollidaysburg 11 8 8 14–41

3-point goals: Westmont Hilltop 1 (Rudolph); Hollidaysburg 4 (Steiner 2, Weimert, Sidney).

Records: Westmont Hilltop (7-8 overall, 7-7 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Hollidaysburg (15-2, 13-1).

Officials: Ethan Vipond, Jacob Polanco, Matt Hilbert.