ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Indians were victorious over Altoona-Midway High School in both ends of a Three Rivers League doubleheader here Tuesday evening.
St. Paul registered a 69-40 win over AMHS in the boys’ contest. That followed a girls’ game in which the host school notched a 56-17 conquest of the Lady Jets.
Both Altoona-Midway varsity teams now sport overall records of 5-14, and both stand 2-8 in league encounters.
The Jets have back-to-back home dates scheduled to close out this week. AMHS steps out of TRL play Thursday to entertain Liberty Homeschool Alliance at Milo Peterson Gymnasium, and Friday the Jets will host Oswego. That will also be Homecoming at AMHS.
AMHS BOYS
St. Paul, only 6-13 overall, evened its TRL record at 6-6 with the 69-40 victory. However, AMHS head coach Dave Vance still found some bright spots in the contest.
“We actually played one of our better games of the year, although the final score may not reflect it,” Vance said. “We had good effort tonight with good attitudes, and I commend the boys for that.”
The Indians jumped out to a 23-8 lead after one period, and held a 39-18 advantage at intermission. It was 58-32 entering the final period.
“We shot 36 percent from two, 36 percent from three-point range, and 62 percent on free throws,” Vance noted. “Those are pretty good numbers for us, and we played tonight with only seven players available.”
Sophomore Chance Mustain led the Jet offense, pouring in a career-high 18 points. Altoona-Midway also benefitted from 10 points by Chance Carter and nine by Kage Beck. Karter Letterman connected on a fourth-quarter trey to round out the scoring for AMHS.
We had 17 turnovers, but 14 of those came in the first half,” Vance said. “We improved quite a bit throughout the game while running a new set on offense.”
Beck had 11 rebounds and five assists for the Jets, while Carter hauled down seven rebounds and Mustain grabbed six. Nolan Lampe dished out three assists and Caden Sicka chipped in with two assists and two steals.
Beachner and McRay proved to be a high-octane one-two scoring punch for St. Paul, pouring in 20 and 19 points, respectively.
AMHS GIRLS
St. Paul (12-7, 9-3) had little trouble chalking up a 56-17 win in the girls’ contest.
As for Altoona-Midway, the bad news was that the Lady Jets began the game with just five players. The good news – the Lady Jets finished the game with five players (due to injuries and fouls, AMHS finished its previous contest with just two eligible girls on the court).
“We started with five (suited up) and ended with five, so I was much happier with the way we defended tonight,” said Lady Jets head coach Jessica Porter. “All in all, I was pleased with how we played, despite the final score.
“We hustled, and we moved the ball,” she added. “We took a lot of good shots – but they just wouldn’t fall.”
St. Paul raced out to a 21-5 lead after one quarter, and stretched that advantage to 31-9 at halftime. It was 50-17 at the end of three, and the Lady Indians tacked on the only six points scored in the final quarter.
Jasa Pankaskie tallied six points to lead Altoona-Midway, while Ava Tindle found the range for five points. The Lady Jets also got four points from Keyleigh Clines and two from Destiny Raymond.
The Lady Indians enjoyed a trio of double-digit scorers. Mathis headed the attack with 12 points, while Dent and Paisley netted 11 apiece. Deegan nearly joined the double-digit club for St. Paul, finishing with nine.