Stadtmiller

The old adage holds that it takes a village to raise a child, and when that credo is extrapolated to a high school basketball team, it can most often be said that it takes an entire group effort to produce a team’s success.

Standouts, starters and regular high scorers grab the spotlight and may do the heavier lifting, but the players behind the scenes work just as diligently in practice and in the games to provide a strong backdrop for any team’s success.

This season’s Altoona Area High School Lady Lions are a case in point. They celebrated their senior night Wednesday at the Altoona High Fieldhouse, and all five of the team’s seniors made solid contributions as Altoona waltzed to a 58-14 non-conference victory over outmanned Williamsport.

Altoona coach Chris Fleegle put all five seniors into his starting lineup at the beginning of the game, and all the seniors enjoyed substantial floor time in a contest that wasn’t competitive after the first quarter.

Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore, a senior who has provided the glue for the Lady Lions over the past couple seasons, scored seven points, while sharp-shooting senior guard Samantha Harpster scored nine points on three 3-point field goals.

Senior Kendall Cogan chipped in six points, and two other senior guards who have given Altoona stability off the bench this season –sixth player Achiera Cuspert and Grace Stadtmiller — scored six and five points, respectively for Altoona, which hiked its season record to 12-3.

“I’ve been playing with these girls for a long time,” said the 5-foot-3 Stadtmiller, who started playing competitive basketball in elementary school and grabbed three rebounds while also providing a nifty assist on a third-quarter bucket by Cogan.

“It’s special that I got to play with all these people again tonight in one of our last home games this season,” Stadtmiller added. “It was a pretty electric atmosphere here tonight and there was a lot of love going around. That’s what’s great about basketball – there’s always somebody there to pick you up if needed.”

Fleegle agreed with Stadtmiller that the senior players share a lot of cohesiveness and camaraderie.

“What we have here is a team that plays for each other, and plays for the program,” Fleegle said. “All these players care about each other, and they all love when the other people on the team succeed.”

Wednesday night’s playing time and one-sided victory was a reward for all of the Altoona seniors who have made a devout commitment to the basketball program.

“These seniors have meant the world to this program,” Fleegle said. “They’ve stuck it out for four years and they’ve all competed hard every day at practice and when called upon in our games. They’ve set a good example of what it means to be a Lady Lion.”

With Moore and Harpster both nailing 3-point shots, Cuspert scoring a field goal on a putback, and Stadtmiller converting a steal into a layup, Altoona built a 13-6 lead after one quarter.

The Lady Lions carried the second quarter, 17-4, to increase their advantage to 30-10 at halftime, and they activated the running clock late in the third quarter, when a 3-pointer by Harpster pushed their lead to 30 points, 42-12.

Sophomore star forward Brionna Hudson scored a game-high 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for Altoona on a night when the team’s seniors shared the spotlight.

“They’re a really good team,” Williamsport coach Lamar Ballard said of Altoona. “It’s easy to tell why they’re one of the top ranked teams in the state. They play really fast, and we weren’t ready for their pace tonight.

“We’re a young team, and tonight was a bump in the road for us,” added Ballard, whose squad dipped to 4-9 on the season and was led by senior Mikayla Cerami’s five points. “We’re learning as we go, and tonight, we ran into a really good team.”

Altoona resumes Mid-Penn Conference play Friday night with a road game at Central Dauphin East.

“We had a good game (Tuesday night in a win over) State College, and we came out with a lot of energy tonight,” Fleegle said. “There’s always room for growth, and we can’t stand still. We’re going to continue to work hard all the way through our regular season and playoff schedule.”

WILLIAMSPORT (14): Cannode 1 0-0 3, Minor 0 0-0 0, Helmrich 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 1-2 3, Fabian 1 0-0 3, Cerami 2 1-4 5, Solomon 0 0-0 0, Antanella 0 0-0 0, Payton 0 0-0 0, Brynlee 0 0-0 0. Totals – 5 2-6 14.

ALTOONA (58): Nguyen-Moore 2 2-2 7, Cogan 2 2-5 6, Harpster 3 0-0 9, Cuspert 2 2-3 6, Stadtmiller 2 1-2 5, Hudson 5 0-0 12, Eyer 2 0-0 6, Heyward 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0-0 0, Beck 2 0-0 5, Williams 1 0-0 2, Harzbecker 0 0-0 0. Totals – 21 7-12 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Williamsport 6 4 2 2–14

Altoona 13 17 12 16–58

3-point goals: Williamsport 2 (Cannode, Fabian); Altoona 9 (Harpster 3, Eyer 2, Hudson 2 Nguyen-Moore, Beck

Records: Williamsport (4-9); Altoona (12-3).

Officials: Randy Burkett, Bill Musser, Emma Musser.

JV: Altoona, 39-2. High scorers–Nara Harzbecker and Kharisma Davis, A, 8 apiece.