Tyrone entered Thursday’s game with a solid 15-3 record and a 7-0 division record in the Nittany Division. The Eagles had no problems during the last meeting against Central Mountain, defeating them 78-47. The Wildcats came in with a 4-12 record, but were more than prepared to show Tyrone that the first time was a fluke.
The Eagles struggled early to get any type of offense going against the stubborn 2-3 zone of Central Mountain. Tyrone shot just 7-for-16 from the field, but managed to score 16 points. With just two points from Steve Catich in the first, Tyrone looked to get the outside shot rolling in the second quarter from Travis Peterman and Kyle Updyke.
After a 16-11 first quarter in favor of Tyrone, the Eagles failed to score in the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter, allowing the Wildcats to take a 20-16 lead after their 9-0 spurt. Tyrone couldn’t hit anything, but when they did hit shots, they were all from beyond the arc.
Behind two threes from Peterman and a trey from Catich, Tyrone managed to finish off the half on an 8-2 run, giving them a 27-26 lead at the break. This was not looking good for Tyrone.
“We put some guys in different spots and looked to attack the short corners against that zone,” head coach George Gripp stated. “I felt we were putting up too many outside shots in the first half, so we started pounding the ball in the paint to soften up the zone a little more in the second half.”
The Eagles softened the zone up, but it wasn’t as soft as they wanted it. Tyrone’s Nate Dane did his best to get in and do the dirty work in the paint, racking up seven of his 13 points in the third alone. The only problem for Tyrone was Scott Zuback and the other stingy guards who threw up some ugly shots and managed to drop them.
With lucky shots going in on one side and Tyrone struggling miserably from the field, the game was in anyone’s hands.
After a back and forth swing for the first three minutes in the fourth quarter, Tyrone found themselves up just 49-47 with 4:49 remaining. At this point, Catich knocked down a trey and started an 11-2 run as the Eagles went on top 60-49 with 1:25 to go in the game. This was the biggest lead of the game for either team, and luckily Tyrone was on the hot end of things.
Tyrone managed to hold off any type of comeback, winning 61-53 in an brutal battle.
“There were times where we looked like we never saw a zone before,” Gripp said. “Guys were standing around with the ball to try and pull the defense outside of their zone, and we turned it over a couple of times just trying to get that advantage. By far, this game wasn’t our best outing of the year, but we’ll take the ugly win and move to 16-3 against Moshannon Valley tomorrow night.”
Tyrone improves to 16-3 on the season behind a defense that refuses to allow 50 points a game. Catich knocked down 21 points, leading all scorers, but had one of his more shaky nights. Dane chipped in 13 of his own on the night, but his role on defense kept the ball in Tyrone’s hands for the most part. Dane managed to take two or three charges throughout the game, which gave his team a lot of momentum at key times.
The Eagles were 23-50 from the field and out rebounded the Wildcats, 26-21. They travel to Moshannon Valley Friday night starting at 6 p.m. for Jayvee and 7:15 p.m. for Varsity.
Scott Zuback led the way for Central Mountain with 15 points, but could not help get the win over the favored Tyrone. The Wildcats made a great run and put Tyrone on their heels for the most part of the game, but ran out of gas in the end.
Tyrone 61 Central Mountain 53
Tyrone – Catich 7 5-5 21, Peterman 3 1-2 9, Dane 6 1-2 13, Brooks 3 2-2 8, Ingle 1 1-1 3, Updyke 1 0-0 3, Gehret 1 0-0 2, Franco 1 0-0- 2. Totals 23 10-12 61.
Central Mountain – Zuback 5 4-4 15, Sellinger 5 1-1 11, Gallagher 4 0-0 9, Wert 3 2-2 9, C. Blazina 2 1-2 5, Welshans 1 0-0 2, Hoot 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-9 53.
Score by Quarter
Tyrone 16 11 18 16 – 61
Central Mountain 11 15 15 12 – 53
Three-point goals: Tyrone–5 (Catich-2, Peterman-2, Updyke)
Central Mountain–3 (Zuback, Gallagher, Wert)
Tyrone Jayvees struggle
With three out of four quarters totaling 17 points, you probably aren’t going to win your game. Well, the jayvee team managed just one double-digit quarter in the third, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats of Central Mountain beat the Eagles, 41-28.
Andy Brokenshire led the Eagles with nine points and a trey, but it was Isiah Blazina who led the way with 10 points in Central Mountain’s victory.
Central Mountain 41 Tyrone 28
Tyrone – Brokenshire 4 0-0 9, McKeehan 4 0-0 8, Reihart 2 0-1 4, Taylor 2 0-0 4, Henneman 0 2-2 2, Murray 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 3-5 28.
Central Mountain – I. Blazina 4 2-2 10, Murray 4 1-1 9, Smeltz 2 2-2 6, Barler 3 0-0 6, Keiper 2 0-0 4, Rote 1 0-0 3, Henry 1 0-0 2. Baney 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 6-7 41.
Score by Quarter
Tyrone 5 6 11 6 – 28
Central Mountain 11 10 8 12 – 41
Three-point goals: Tyrone–1 (Brokenshire)
Central Mountain–1 (Rote)
