On Feb. 24, the State High Girls Basketball team traveled to Mount Aloysius College to take on Altoona with the District VI title and a spot in the state tournament on the line. Altoona came in toting a gaudy 18-4 record, and the Little Lions were overwhelmed right from the jump and ended their season with a 61-42 loss.

Altoona came out scorching hot with an 8-2 run in the first four minutes of the game. Senior Diana Tsarnakova came off the bench early to try to give the Little Lions an offensive spark, but it was junior Jess Hawbaker who finally got State High over the two point mark with an and-one layup with 2:45 to play in the first quarter.

In the closing minutes of the first quarter, Altoona’s Lanie Wilt managed to free herself twice for three pointers, putting State College down 14-5 entering the second. Altoona stayed hot through the second quarter, outscoring the Little Lions 17-9. Altoona’s Melana Eyer outscored State High all by herself with 10 second quarter points.

With under three minutes to play in the second quarter, State College’s Lydia Tate lowered her shoulder driving to the rim and picked up her second personal foul. With Tate’s rim protection out of the game, Altoona closed the half on a 10-4 run to go up 31-14 at halftime.

The Little Lions caught a spark to begin the second half with a layup from Tate and an Altoona turnover, but couldn’t fan the flames. Just one minute into the third quarter, Sheree Wilson picked up her third personal foul and headed to the bench, hampering State High’s offensive firepower.

State College continued to make plays, but couldn’t put it all together and never got back within 14 points. Sophomore guard Mckenna Whitehurst tried her best in the fourth quarter, putting up all 10 of her points in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough.

The defensive effort for the Little Lions never dropped off, which is something Head Coach Alli Mock could take away from the game as a positive. The team’s theme this year was to be, “All in, all the time,” and the players certainly were, even as they were at, as Mock called it, “A low point in the wave,” in the final minutes of the game.

This defeat ended the State High Girls Basketball season, and ended the high school careers of Tsarnakova and her fellow seniors Carley Donnell and Alexa Russell. Donnell, the team’s season leader in three-pointers, was the focal point of Altoona’s defensive gameplan and finished with just two points.

After the game, though, a member of the Altoona crowd approached her and shared some meaningful comments. The fan told her, “It’s been an honor to play against you,” and went on to compliment her competitiveness and shooting that Altoona had been fighting against for the last four years. While the senior class was quiet in the game, they leave behind a reputation of fight and competitiveness that the girls basketball program will miss.

Even losing Donell and Tsarnakova, the team returns a solid core of young players which includes three underclass starters in Tate and the Wilson twins, Sienna and Sheree. Every one of those players now has the experience of playing in a high-pressure championship environment, something that Mock values for next year.

“We haven’t had a lot of players that have been in [a championship] situation, so now they know what this feeling is,” Mock said. “They know what the game is like, they know how they’re feeling now, and we use that to drive what we’ll do to improve.”

Once the team makes the improvements Mock referenced, it should be in position to compete for the District VI title once again in 2024-25.

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Junior Jess Hawbaker looks to throw an inbounds pass from the baseline.