BUFFALO – In a playoff game that could have gone either way – it went the wrong way for
the Altoona-Midway High School girls.
Leading by one point with under three minutes remaining, the Lady Jets saw it slip away as
the Southern Coffey County Titans pulled out a 34-30 triumph in a Class 1A-Division II
sub-state game here Friday night.
SCCHS scored its final 11 points from the free throw line, including all nine points
registered in the closely-contested fourth quarter. “We played well last night, despite getting into foul trouble very early on in the game,” said
AMHS head coach Jessica Porter. “Ava Hufford, our floor general, fouled out, while Ava
(Tindle), Summer (Raymond), and Emmy (Pupanek) played most of the third quarter and
all of the fourth quarter with four fouls.
For the game, Southern Coffey County made 16-of-36 free throws while Altoona-Midway
managed just 4-of-18 from the stripe. “(SCC) shot a lot more free throws than we did, and they made a lot more,” Porter said. “That definitely played a big part in the outcome.
“Despite all that, our girls gave it all they had and had a chance to win at the end,” the
coach added.
The tough loss ends the season for the Altoona-Midway girls, who finished 5-16 on the
year. Still, the AMMS girls can be proud of the fact they earned a home game for the
postseason, and their five-win total marks the most victories in a season by a Lady Jet squad
since 2011.
“I’m very pleased with how far we’ve come this season,” Porter noted. “Despite taking this
loss hard, we still made some history this year. I’m sure next year we will make even more
history.”
The Lady Jets also bid farewell to two graduating seniors, Ava Hufford and Summer
Raymond. “This is the first year I’ve had seniors, so it will be different navigating next year without them,” Porter said. “I’m so happy I got to coach Summer and Ava for the final two years of their high school careers, and wish them the best on their future.”
Trailing 25-21 entering the final quarter, Altoona-Midway went on an 8-3 run to take a 29-
28 lead with under four minutes remaining. Raymond began the spurt, scoring a fastbreak
layup on a great assist from Hufford. Raymond also hit a three-pointer, Mika Parsons scored
on a fastbreak and Ava Tindle’s free throw gave AMHS a one-point lead with 3:51
remaining.
But the Lady Titans would score the next six points of the game from the charity stripe, and
Raymond’s free throw with 33 seconds left cut the final margin to 34-30.
Altoona-Midway jumped out to an early 7-2 lead as Raymond canned a trey and Chantal
Morales and Parsons added two-pointers. The Lady Jets still led 13-8 midway in the second
quarter before SCC rallied to take a 16-15 lead at intermission. Southern Coffey County netted the first five points of the third quarter to go up 21-15, but
AMHS rallied back to get within 25-21 and set up the exciting final period. The Titans employed an effective box-and-one defense to slow down Altoona-Midway’s leading scorer, junior Emmalynn Pupanek. Pupanek, who poured in 17 points in the regular- season game against SCCHS, was limited to two baskets on the night, both coming on steals and fastbreak layups.
The Lady Jets were led by Raymond, who fired in 15 points in her final game. Parsons and
Pupanek tallied five and four points, respectively, while Hufford finished with three points,
Morales two and Tindle one.
Karley Ohl paced the Titan attack with 15 points, nine of those coming from the charity
stripe. SCC also got nine points from Kaydence Gunlock and five from Emily Lundolph.