McPHERSON – It was a long road trip, and it wound up being the end of the road.
The Altoona-Midway Lady Jets saw their season come to an abrupt end against Elyria Christian School here Monday night. AMHS made the 2.5-hour trip only to fall to the Eagles 60-18 in the opening round of the Class 1A-Division II sub-state playoffs.
The loss closes out the Lady Jets’ 2024-25 season with an overall record of 6-12.
While that may not seem impressive to outsiders, AMHS head coach Jessica Porter definitely has the Lady Jets program on the upswing. In her three years at the helm, Altoona-Midway has increased their win total each season. Despite losing their final two regular-season games due to weather, this year’s six wins are the most by a Lady Jet squad since 2009-10.
“We weren’t ready for the season to end,” Porter said. “But these girls have definitely improved this season, and they can be proud that moved the program in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, Elyria Christian improved to 12-9 with the win. The Eagles now face a tall task in the 1A-II semifinal round, as they will be pitted against top-seeded South Haven (18-1), which received a first-round bye. Hartford (13-5) is slated to take on St, Paul (11-5) in the other semifinal.
The Lady Jets definitely showed the effects of the long road trip and not having played a game since Feb. 14. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, surging to a 21-0 lead after just one period.
It was 23-0 before Autumn Raymond canned a pair of free throws to get AMHS on the board. Emmalynn Pupanek later notched the lone field goal of the half as ECS cruised to a 35-4 lead at intermission.
“Elyria was a very tall, very athletic team,” Porter said. “They killed us in the paint, and their length and speed caused us a lot of problems with our ballhandling.”
The Lady Jets warmed up a little offensively in the second half, but not nearly enough. The Eagles led 51-8 after three periods before AMHS actually won the final stanza 10-9.
Despite their limited offensive production, the Lady Jets did have six different players score in the contest. Freshman Sandra Morales topped the chart with six points, while senior Emmalynn Pupanek managed four points. Rounding out the scoring were Chantal Morales with three, Autumn Raymond and Ava Tindle with two each, and Mika Parsons with one.
Pupanek hauled down eight rebounds, Sandra Morales grabbed six, and Tindle and Raymond recorded five apiece.
Ironically, only four Eagles scored for ECS, but the entire quartet finished in double figures. Prescott led the way with 20 points, Swenson netted 15, Pyle had 14 and Hall 11. Pyle and Swenson did their damage early, scoring 12 and 10, respectively, in the first half.
The Lady Jets will return eight members of their squad next season, but had to bid farewell to their two seniors, Emmalynn Pupanek and Autumn Raymond.
“We will definitely miss Emmalynn and Autumn,” Porter said. “Emmalynn is a tremendous athlete and was a four-year starter for this program. Autumn started as a sophomore but did not play her junior year due to transferring. She returned this season and really gave us a much-needed shot in the arm, especially with ballhandling. We wish both of them the best of luck in the future.”