High School Basketball

Fast & furious: Altoona downs Tigers

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Altoona boys basketball coach Jarrod Klausman preaches many things to his Mountain Lions but two of them are to start fast and finish strong. He got that Tuesday night on the road against rival Hollidaysburg.

Making their first seven 3-pointers of the game, coupled with a 12-6 run in the final 4:18 of the fourth quarter, the Mountain Lions improved to 9-11 with a 67-54 victory over the Golden Tigers in front of a vociferous crowd.

"I challenged our guys to play with the same energy in the second half that we did at the start of the game," Klausman said. "When you play against a well-coached team, a talented team … it's kind of like (North) Carolina-Duke. You see one team up 17 and the other goes on a 17-4 run then. I was proud that we weathered the run at the end."

He was probably just as proud that his Mountain Lions, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 25-15 first-quarter lead. Caleb Pierce hit three 3-pointers while K.J. Futrell and Tyler Becker each hit two.

"We wanted to give special consideration to P.J. (Charles) because he is one of the best players around,” Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear said. “We just looked at the film (after the game) and our guys were there. I thought we stoned all of their offenses, but their players came to play.

"Their points came off transition. It came off rebound, kick out, 3. We had them scouted. We had 11 of their games on film. That is the best they have shot all year."

Sophomore Jake McGinnis tried to keep Hollidaysburg (14-7) close in the quarter, nailing two 3-pointers of his own. He finished with four trifectas and 14 points.

"We are shooting 35 percent (from three-point range) which is pretty good for a high school team. Early on, we ran five or six different things, some of them twice, to get guys open. We got some really good looks," Klausman said.

McGinnis hit a 3-pointer at the 3:30 mark of the second quarter to cut Altoona's lead to eight at 32-24.

"He led us in rebounding (tonight),which is his game, but he is a very good corner 3-point shooter in that spot in our offense," Lear said.

But Pierce, Jeremiah Crockett, Futrell and Charles all turned it up a notch down the stretch, each scoring a bucket for a 41-24 halftime lead.

"You want to limit the long runs, and as long as you make the last run of the game … to hold them in the low 50s is a good job defensively," Klausman said.

Hollidaysburg made its run in the third quarter, outscoring the Mountain Lions -- who won the first time the two played this season -- 20-8 in the frame. Josh Holsopple scored eight points in the quarter while McGinnis added five more. Jaden Delerme, who finished with 11, hit two foul shots with 1.3 seconds left on the clock to cut it 49-44 going into the fourth.

It was there that Lear thought his Tigers had their chance.

"The biggest thing there … we missed two layups down five (to start the fourth). If we can cut that to three, then they have some pressure," he said.

Pierce and Futrell hit buckets to put Altoona up 53-44 with 5:10 to go in the game, and three times Hollidaysburg got the lead down to seven points. However, each time Altoona answered the bell. Charles finished with eight of his 17 points in the fourth.

"Even though we are 9-11 right now, I would take our odds against any 9-11 high school team in America," Klausman said. "Playing in the Mid-Penn (Conference), we are battle-tested. To have five guys on the floor who can score, that is hard to prepare for, hard to stop."

Pierce led Altoona with 20. Futrell had 17. Holsopple added 10 points to go with 11 from Shane Gildea.

Game notes: Altoona hosts Cumberland Valley Friday night while Hollidaysburg hosts Penn-Trafford Thursday night in its final regular-season game of the year.

ALTOONA (67): Becker 2 0-0 6, Pierce 8 0-0 20, Pheasant 0 0-0 0, Lawson 0 0-0 0, Futrell 7 1-2 17, Petucci 0 0-0 0, Crockett 3 1-1 7, Charles 7 2-2 17, Corso 0 0-0 0, Cornelius 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 27 4-6 67.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (54): Delerme 4 3-4 11, Gildea 4 2-2 11, G. Kratzer 0 0-0 0, Imhoff 0 0-0 0, R. Stevenson 1 0-0 2, McGinnis 5 0-0 14, Wedel 0 0-0 0, M. Kratzer 1 0-0 2, Holsopple 2 4-6 10, Yeager 1 2-2 4. Totals -- .

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Altoona 25 16 8 18 -- 67

Hollidaysburg 15 9 20 10 -- 54

3-point goals: Altoona 9 (Becker 2, Pierce 4, Futrell 2, Charles); Hollidaysburg 7 (Gildea, McGinnis 4, Holsopple 2).

Records: Altoona (9-11); Hollidaysburg (14-7).

JV: Altoona, 52-19. High scorers--Pheasant, A, 15; Imhoff, H, 7.

Officials: Brian Ehrie, Joe Hanna, Dan Gales