BUFFALO – While a large portion of the season still remains to be played, the Altoona-Midway High School boys’ basketball team is currently the surprise story of the Three Rivers League.
The Jets won their second consecutive thriller before a vibrant home crowd here Tuesday night, squeezing past the Oswego Indians 59-56 in overtime in an electrifying league battle at Milo Peterson Gymnasium. The AMHS boys (5-3 overall) ran their winning streak to three games and now stand 3-0 in TRL play.
In the preliminary matchup, the Lady Jets held a slim one-point lead in the third period before Oswego rallied to notch a 43-29 victory in the girls’ varsity tilt.
The Altoona-Midway squads will hit the road on Friday, traveling to Uniontown.
AMHS Boys
Altoona-Midway was red-hot in the opening quarter, storming out of the gates to build an 18-5 lead. But Oswego refused to fold, cutting the deficit to six by halftime. The Indians stayed within striking distance most of the second half, then hit a pair of three-point shots late in regulation to force overtime. The Jets regrouped in the extra period, outscored the Indians 7-4 to post their third consecutive win, all in TRL action.
“We got off to a great start, moving the ball well and taking good shots,” said AMHS head coach Dave Vance. “That was an excellent first quarter. “But we sort of took our foot off of the gas pedal in the second quarter,” Vance added. “We relaxed too much, and to their credit, Oswego came back to make a great game of it.
“We managed to maintain a lead or a tie the rest of the game, but we could not shut down Number 23 (Tanner O’Neal) from Oswego. He drained quite a few 3-point shots, including two big ones in the closing moments of regulation. We’re playing with a lot of aggressiveness, which I like – but we also committed way too many fouls,” Vance added.
Altoona-Midway built its lead back to eight points (42-34) entering the final period, when Oswego got red-hot from behind the arc. The Indians outscored the Jets 18-10 in the stanza as Jackson hit a trey and O’Neal connected three times from long range, including two in the final minute of regulation to knot the game at 52.
Jacob Meigs opened the extra period with back-to-back buckets to make it 56-52, and William Stackhouse added three free throws down the stretch to salt away the white-knuckle victory.
Stackhouse and Meigs both finished with double-doubles to lead the AMHS attack. Stackhouse poured in 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Meigs finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out seven assists, collecting two blocks and registering three steals.
“That’s quite a night,” Vance said. “But we had key contributions from several people. We finished with 15 assists, which is a record for us. Overall, it was a great effort by all of the boys. Now we have to prepare for a tough road game on Friday at Uniontown.”
Kieran Foster was the third Jet to reach double digits, pouring in 13 first-half points, including nine in the opening quarter to help AMHS to its fast start. Foster also pulled down eight rebounds. Rounding out the Jets attack with Lane Poeverlein with four points, Kage Beck with three and Taj Chism with two.
O’Neal finished with five treys and 19 points for Oswego. Rayden Myers and Owen Jackson chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Oswego claimed a narrow 25-23 win the JV game. Chism tallied nine and Joey Lamendola eight for the Jets.
AMHS Girls
In the girls’ contest, Altoona-Midway was leading midway in the third quarter before foul trouble doomed the Lady Jets to a 43-29 setback.
AMHS led 15-14 at halftime, and still held a 17-16 advantage midway in the third period when starter Emmalynn Pupanek was forced to the bench with her fourth foul. Oswego outscored Altoona-Midway 27-12 from that point forward. Pupanek returned later, but the Lady Jets saw starter Chantal Morales eventually foul out while starters Ava Tindle and Summer Raymond also finished the game with four fouls.
“My non-starters are all freshmen, so as far as experience it really puts us in a bind if we get into foul trouble,” noted AMHS head coach Jessica Porter. “But that being said, Mika Parsons really stepped up as a reserve and filled a role with the starters in foul trouble.”
The first half was definitely positive for Altoona-Midway. The hosts led 6-4 at the quarter and 15-14 at intermission. But Oswego outscored the Lady Jets 14-4 in the third quarter to go up 28-19, then proceeded to build the lead another five points to finish off the 43-29 victory.
“The girls played really well in the first half, but the third quarter just killed us,” Porter said. “We gave up way too many points because we had a hard time adjusting to their offensive plays. By the time the third quarter was over it was too late to catch up.
“However, I was proud of the fact that we played hard until the very end, and got the other team flustered.”
Pupanek and Raymond paced the AMHS attack with eight points each, while Morales and Parsons scored five points apiece and Ava Hufford chipped in three.
Dezi Trotnic and Olivia Jackson popped in 13 points apiece for Oswego, while Braeleigh Smith was right behind with 12.
Oswego also won the junior varsity matchup 15-10. Jasa Pankaskie netted four points for AMHS while Mika Parsons, Peyton Drake and Chantal Morales had two each.