State College, Altoona to battle for District 6 boys’ basketball championship

Recent meetings between State College boys’ basketball and Altoona really couldn’t get any closer.

In last year’s District 6 championship game, State College edged Altoona 58-57 in the waning seconds. In their two matchups this year, Altoona won the first 56-52, while State College took the second 46-43.

Combined, those three games come out to 156-156.

Little Lions coach Joe Walker said familiarity has bred a lack of separation, and he isn’t expecting anything different this time around, either, when State College (12-10) plays Altoona (11-12) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the District 6 Class AAAA championship game at Mount Aloysius College.

“I’m hoping not,” Walker said, looking for a comfortable win. “But any time you’ve played each other three times, you really know each other.”

Whichever team can pull out a win will advance to the PIAA Class AAAA tournament to face the No. 5 seed from District 3. The losing side’s season will be over.

Walker’s team, after two weeks in between games, is ready to get back on the floor.

The Little Lions fell 71-69 at Williamsport on Feb. 12, ending a four-game winning streak. State College might have left that game with a bad taste in its mouth, but time has thoroughly washed that away.

“We’re not really dwelling on anything,” Walker said. “When you have that big of a break, it’s tough to remember who you played last.”

And, normally, it’s tough to stay sharp on the floor.

After playing two, sometimes three, games per week, then going 14 days without one can be difficult for players to deal with, from a conditioning perspective as well as consistency shooting the rock.

But Walker believes his team has practiced well the past two weeks, and fortunately for the Little Lions, he thinks his bench and JV squad have replicated game speed in five-on-five scrimmages.

Still, “We’re excited to get back on the court for a scoreboard-monitored game,” the coach said.

Even though they’ve seen plenty of Altoona this year, the Little Lions, who received an automatic bye into the championship game, went to the semifinal game between the Mountain Lions and Central Mountain. The former won 43-38.

Walker said nothing Altoona did was too surprising — the Mountain Lions’ showed their strength inside and hit a few shots from the perimeter when Central Mountain collapsed the lane.

While still keeping a focus on those tendencies, the coach made sure to prepare his players for the unexpected.

“There’s always that chance that something comes up in a must-win game,” Walker said. “There could be some surprises.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "State College, Altoona to battle for District 6 boys’ basketball championship."