ROSALIA – It was a tough evening for Altoona-Midway basketball here Tuesday, as the host Flinthills Mustangs won both ends of their non-conference cage twin bill.
Flinthills posted a 57-10 victory in the girls’ game and followed that win up with a 51-33 triumph in the boys’ contest.
The Mustangs were also victorious in a pair of two-quarter junior varsity battles, giving the host school a sweep of four matchups on the night. For Altoona-Midway, the boys will have a chance to bounce back from the defeat later this week, while the girls will have to wait until after the Christmas break.
The AMHS boys will travel to Chetopa on Friday, Dec. 15, to close out the December portion of their schedule. Unfortunately, the Chetopa girls have postponed their game with the Lady Jets, citing a lack of available players.
AMHS Girls
The Lady Mustangs controlled the girls’ game from start to finish, racing to a 57-10 victory.
“I have to give credit to Flinthills. They are athletic, and work very well as a team,” said AMHS head coach Jessica Porter. The game was decided in the first eight minutes, as Flinthills jumped out to a 21-0 lead The Lady Mustangs led 34-1 at halftime. Altoona-Midway fared better in the second half, as the deficit was 23-9 over the final two quarters.
“We were not patient on offense and tried dribbling out of pressure instead of making good passes,” Porter said. “We took a bunch of shots, they just wouldn’t fall. The fourth quarter was definitely the best that we played. We found the open person, made better passes and attacked the basket better.”
Emmalynn Pupanek scored five points for the Lady Jets, while Summer Raymond tallied three and Ava Hufford finished with two.
Paige Corter was the big gun for Flinthills, pouring in 23 points on the night, including nine in the fourth quarter when Lady Mustang starters accounted for all 15 of their points in the period, long after the outcome had been decided.
Pupanek hauled down 15 rebounds, but AMHS was limited to just 24 total caroms overall.
Emmalynn did a great job getting rebounds,” Porter noted. “We need to start getting more rebounds and second chance opportunities as a team.In the jayvee contest, Flinthills won 17-2. Peyton Drake scored the basket for AMHS.
“We’re disappointed Chetopa is unable to play a girls’ game Friday, but we’ll continue working on getting better for the rest of the season,” Porter added.
AMHS Boys
In a game that was nip-and-tuck for much of the first half, the Flinthills Mustangs pulled away in the final two periods to post a 51-33 non-conference triumph. The Mustangs led just 10-9 after one period, and held a narrow 18-15 lead before tallying the final four points before halftime to go up 22-18. The game remained fairly close for much of the third quarter before Flinthills pulled away to a 35-22 advantage entering the final stanza. The Jets were forced to take chances on defense and were unable to cut into the deficit as Flinthills finished with a 51-33 win.
“We just could never get on track tonight. The Mustangs played a better game than we did all around,” said AMHS head coach Dave Vance. “We had some trouble with our ball handling with (senior) Jacob Meigs being in foul trouble most of the night.
“Also, normally we are very good rebounding team, but tonight we allowed way too many follow-up shots,” Vance added. Flinthills was also pretty hot from the three-point area.”
Altoona-Midway junior Kieran Foster was also hot behind the arc. Foster canned four treys in the first half and tallied 15 of his game-high 18 points before intermission. Unfortunately, no other Jet scored until after halftime.
“Kieran had a good night from the field for us,” Vance noted. “William Stackhouse played some great defense with five steals, but since he was handling the ball more than usual, with Jacob being in foultrouble, he did less scoring than usual.” In addition to Foster’s 18 points, the Jets got six points from Meigs, three from Stackhouse, and two each from Lane Poeverlein, Blaine Collins, and Joey Lamendola. Flinthills enjoyed a three-pronged offensive attack, led by Tate Leslie with 13 points and Jake Hunter and Trip Carney tossing in 12 apiece.
“We’ll go back to work and hopefully we can get back in the win column Friday night when we travel to Chetopa,” Vance said. In a two-quarter junior varsity game, the Mustangs won 30-22. Taj Chism scored 11 and Lamendola 10 for the Jets.