Now a senior point guard, Weimert is hoping to lead the Lady Tigers further than ever before when the state tournament gets underway next month.

On Thursday night, though, she celebrated a very special individual accomplishment by reaching and surpassing the 1,000-point mark for her career, finishing with a game-high 20 points as Hollidaysburg downed Central, 48-28 in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game at the Central High School gymnasium.

The 5-foot-10 Weimert, who will continue her basketball career next year on the collegiate level at Mount Aloysius, needed six points in Thursday’s game to reach the 1,000-point mark. She achieved that by sinking the first of her two free throws with 2:34 left in the first quarter, setting off a celebration with her teammates and coaches, and drawing a loud round of applause from Hollidaysburg and Central fans alike.

“This means a lot to me,” Weimert said. “I’ve achieved a lot with these girls — they’re like family to me. The goal this year is for our team to win another District (4-6) championship and to advance further in the state tournament than we did last year.”

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Central's Addison Long puts up a shop by Hollidaysburg's Kate Steiner.

Hollidaysburg, which improved to 17-2 overall and 15-1 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, also has an excellent chance to play in the conference championship game later this month.

Weimert is the leader on this year’s veteran team, which starts four seniors and a junior.

“She’s put her heart and soul into Hollidaysburg basketball since she first stepped on the court,” Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said of Weimert, who saw varsity playing time as a ninth grader. “She’s probably one of the best athletes that we’ve ever seen put on a Hollidaysburg uniform.

“Any time a kid can score 1,000 career points, that means that they’re playing a lot of minutes, and that they’re scoring a lot,” Jubeck said. “She’s accomplished everything that she’s accomplished through her hard work and perseverance.”

Central (8-13, 7-10) battled Hollidaysburg toe-to-toe through the first quarter and the early moments of the second, forging a 19-19 tie on a 3-point field goal by senior Adyson Poet, who led the Lady Dragons with 12 points.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Alana Lightner scoops up a loose ball by Central's Addie Imes.

Hollidaysburg, however, closed the second quarter on an eight-point run, which started with a layup by sophomore Allie Hayer, and continued with buckets by Weimert, junior Kate Steiner and senior Clare Padamonsky, to take a 27-19 halftime lead.

Central coach Blake Over has been pleased with the improvement of his team, which dropped a lopsided 69-32 decision to the Lady Tigers at Hollidaysburg in mid-December in which Hollidaysburg led by 30 points in the second quarter and inserted its junior varsity players into the game before halftime.

“I’m really proud of our girls,” Over said. “We were only down eight at halftime tonight, and just to see the progress that we’ve made since that first game with (Hollidaysburg) is exciting.”

Hollidaysburg ruled the second half of Thursday’s game, limiting Central to just 11 points over the final 16 minutes.

“They made a really good defensive adjustment putting Kate Steiner on our point guard in the second half,” Over said. “She’s a really good defender, and offensively, we weren’t able to penetrate in the second half, and we had a hard time scoring.”

With Weimert and senior Alana Lightner scoring four points apiece in the third quarter, Hollidaysburg moved out to a 35-24 lead after three stops.

The Golden Tigers, who got 14 points in the game from Lightner, ran off 11 of the first 12 points in the fourth quarter to go into cruise-control mode with a 46-25 lead.

Steiner snared a team-high 10 rebounds and Weimert had nine for Hollidaysburg, which made 16 of its 45 floor shots in the game for a 35.5 percent clip. Central, which got a game-high 11 rebounds from junior forward Addie Himes, made just 10 of its 42 floor shots for 23.8 percent.

Hollidaysburg visits Clearfield tonight, while Central travels to Philipsburg-Osceola Monday night. Since dropping a 54-52 overtime decision on the road to two-time defending PIAA Class 1A state champion Bishop Guilfoyle Academy in mid-December, Hollidaysburg has now won 12 straight games. The Lady Tigers have a rematch on their floor with BG Monday night.

“Since that BG game, we’ve been playing strong defense, rebounding well, and pushing the ball up the floor in transition,” Jubeck said. “We’ve been hanging our hats on those three things.”

HOLLIDAYSBURG (48): Lightner 4 6-7 14, Weimert 7 6-10 20, Padamonsky 2 0-0 4, Sidney 0 0-0 0, Steiner 2 4-4 8, Leighty 0 0-2 0, Hayer 1 0-0 2, Gearhart 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 16-23 48.

CENTRAL (28): Imes 1 2-4 4, Benton 3 1-2 8, Poet 4 3-4 12, Rhykerd 0 0-0 0, Long 1 0-0 2, Parrilla 1 0-0 2, Gahagan 0 0-0 0. Totals — 10 6-10 28.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 15 12 8 13–48

Central 13 6 5 4–28

3-point goals: Central 2 (Poet, Benton).

Records: Hollidaysburg (17-2 overall, 15-1 LHAC); Central (8-13, LHAC 7-10).

Officials: Mike Andrews, Todd Parker, Tom Fountaine.

JV: Hollidaysburg, 43-16. High scorers–Bella Basenback, H, 14; Cami Parrilla, C, 11.