BUFFALO – At least Monday was the day after and not Groundhog Day – because it was a day neither of the Altoona-Midway High School basketball teams would like to see repeated over and over.
Crest High School rolled into Milo Peterson Gymnasium and handed the Jet varsity squads back-to-back lopsided defeats here in a Three Rivers League matchup.
The Lady Lancers opened things up with a 49-14 triumph, and things didn’t get any better in the nightcap as Crest walloped the AMHS boys 61-25. Both games had running clocks in the final period.
Altoona-Midway’s boys’ squad will have the opportunity to turn things around immediately, as they are slated to travel to Chetopa on Tuesday and then will return home on Friday to host Marmaton Valley.
However, neither of those opponents were able to field girls’ teams this year, so the Lady Jets are off the rest of the week. Their next action will be Tuesday, Feb. 11, at Oswego.
AMHS BOYS
Altoona-Midway, winners of four of their previous five outings, were never close to being competitive in Monday’s 61-25 loss to Crest.
Turnovers, poor shooting and lack of rebounding plagued the Jets all night long. The Lancers jumped to a 23-1 lead in the opening period and breezed to the TRL victory.
AMHS failed to record a basket until senior Joey Lamendola hit a three-pointer one minute into the second stanza. A free throw by freshman Chance Carter was the lone tally in the first quarter.
Crest led 47-11 at halftime and 57-13 after three quarters. The Jets then tallied a dozen points in the final period.
“Not much to say about a game like that,” said AMHS head coach Dave Vance. “Crest came out with a vengeance to redeem themselves from us winning the game last year. They picked up man-to-man full court pressure, and we could not get up off the floor and recover.
We committed six turnovers in the first three minutes of the game… It did not get any better after that.”
For the game, the Jets were charged with 33 ball-handling miscues.
“We may be opening a bakery in the school cafeteria very soon,” Vance quipped in an attempt to lighten the mood. “We had turnovers of every variety. Maybe they can be part of the bake raffle at our next home game.”
Returning to business, Vance added: “What we need to bring tomorrow (against Chetopa) is our hearts,” he added. “We have to play for the love of the game, and play hard every play.”
Lamendola and William Stackhouse shared top scoring honors for AMHS with seven points each. Carter finished with six points, Taj Chism finished with three and Kage Beck added two.
Stackhouse was credited with seven rebounds and four steals.
Lane Yocham paced the Lancers with five treys and 17 points, all in the first half. Denton Ramsey also reached double figures with 13.
With the loss, Altoona-Midway dropped to 7-7 overall and 2-4 in TRL play.
AMHS GIRLS
The opening varsity contest Monday was very similar, as the Lady Lancers jumped out to an early lead, led wire-to-wire, and were never tested in posting a 49-14 victory over Altoona-Midway.
Crest tallied 10 unanswered points to open the game before Chantal Morales connected from behind the arc to get the Lady Jets on the scoreboard. But that would be the only points for the hosts in the first period, which ended 19-3.
The Lady Lancers built their lead to 33-10 at halftime, 46-14 after three quarters, and then added a single three-pointer during the fourth-quarter running clock.
Chantal Morales hit another trey and added two free throws in the second quarter, and finished with a team-high eight points. Her sister Sandra Morales also added a two-pointer for her only points after scoring a school-record 33 the previous game.
Emmalynn Pupanek finished with four points, scoring the only two AMHS baskets after intermission.
“We didn’t play well last night. We were defeated before we even went out and played the game,” said Lady Jets head coach Jessica Porter. “Crest has a fine team and deserves all the credit. But we also battled injury and illness. Ava Tindle was sick and wasn’t at the game. Keyleigh (Clines) hurt her knee in the JV game, and in warm-ups before the varsity game Autumn (Raymond) rolled her ankle. Both girls tried to play through it, but they were not 100 percent.”
Kinley Edgerton fired in 15 points to lead Crest.
Sandra Morales grabbed seven rebounds for the Lady Jets, who fell to 4-9 overall and 1-4 in the league. Chantal Morales had four steals and Pupanek had two steals and four blocks.
“We don’t play the rest of the week (Chetopa and Marmaton Valley were unable to field girls’ teams this season),” Porter noted. “Hopefully next week will be better.”
The squads also played a two-quarter junior varsity game, which Crest won 38-12.