BUFFALO – The “home court magic” enjoyed this season by the Altoona-Midway High School boys’ basketball team finally ran out Friday night.
Actually, the Pleasanton Blu-Jays were much more of a determining factor than magic, as the visitors used red-hot shooting – particularly from sophomore Mario Davis – and raced past the Jets 70-45 in a Three Rivers League game here at Milo Peterson Gymnasium.
Davis scorched the nets for 33 points against Altoona-Midway, which had been unbeaten on its homecourt in five previous games this season.
Meanwhile, the Lady Jets led throughout the first half but stumbled in the final two periods as Pleasanton recorded a 28-12 triumph in the girls’ contest.
The AMHS squads will now embark on a three-game road trip beginning Tuesday, Jan 30, when they travel to face the St Paul Indians in another TRL twinbill.
AMHS BOYS
Davis put on an incredible shooting display for Pleasanton, swishing a half dozen three-point buckets and an equal amount of two-pointers en route to his 33-point performance.
“We simply did not have an answer for (Davis),” said AMHS assistant coach Craig Null, filling in for Jets head coach Dave Vance, who missed the game due to illness. “We tried zone. We tried man. And it wasn’t like we were leaving him wide open. Several times we had a hand in his face and he still hit the shot. I just have to tip my hat to that young man. It was an amazing performance.”
Davis poured in 14 points in the opening quarter when Pleasanton blazed out of the gates to a 27-12 advantage.
“Giving up 27 points in a quarter is unacceptable, regardless of the circumstances. We’re better than that,” Null said.
But as has been their standard this year, Altoona-Midway refused to roll over. The Jets battled back to within 40-28 at halftime, then struck first in the third period to close the gap to 40-30. At that point Davis took over again, scoring 10 unanswered points in lightning fashion, hiking the lead back to 20 and ending any hopes of a miracle rally for the home squad.
“We got back within 10 and then it was like ‘bam, bam, bam’ – and all of the sudden now it’s 50-30,” Null said. “But we never quit. We battled the entire way and never gave up. That’s one of the things I really love about these guys.”
Jacob Meigs connected on four treys of his own and finished with a team-high 20 points for AMHS before fouling out. William Stackhouse tallied 10 points while Kieran Foster added eight points, all coming in the first quarter before he was saddled with foul trouble the remainder of the night.
Rounding out the scoring for the Jets were Taj Chism with five and Lane Poeverlein with two.
In addition to Davis’ stellar night, Pleasanton got 17 points from Tony Gillespie and nine from Kam Statain.
Altoona-Midway, 3-3 in TRL play and 8-6 overall has now dropped two straight games after winning six of its previous seven outings.
AMHS GIRLS
It was a tale of two halves in the girls’ varsity game.
Altoona-Midway controlled the first two quarters and led 12-9 entering the break. But the Lady Jays turned up the defensive pressure and the Jets were unable to find an answer. AMHS failed to score over the final two stanzas as Pleasanton rallied to post a 28-12 victory.
“We played hard and out-rebounded Pleasanton the first half,” noted AMHS head coach Jessica Porter. “We took good shots, fed the post, and wanted the game more than they did.”
Indeed, paced by junior Emmalynn Pupanek who connected on three straight baskets, Altoona-Midway led 6-3 after one period. A three-point basket by Ava Hufford and a two-pointer by Summer Raymond increased the AMHS lead to 11-5 midway in the second quarter. Unfortunately, a free throw by Hufford would be the only point registered by the Lady Jets the rest of the way. Pleasanton outscored Altoona-Midway 19-0 in the second half.
“It was definitely a game of two halves though – and we obviously did not come out with the same energy we started with,” Porter lamented. “After halftime, Pleasanton came out much more aggressively. We got into foul trouble, Summer hurt her ankle, and we never bounced back. I also had several girls who were not feeling well, and we were fighting that during the game too.”
Pupanek’s first-quarter outburst gave her a game-high six points for AMHS. Hufford finished with four points and Raymond added two.
Eryn Sabine tossed in 12 points, including 10 after intermission, for the Lady Jays.
Pupanek also pulled down 13 rebounds for the Lady Jets, who fell to 3-10 overall and 0-5 in TRL play.
The Pleasanton girls won a two-quarter junior varsity game, 12-4.