You know it’s been a good night when you can go 0-for-10 in the fourth quarter and still win by 11.
That’s what the Tyrone Lady Eagles did last night at home against Bald Eagle Area in a game that demonstrated how dangerous Tyrone can be against teams that elect to employ full-court pressure while Rachel Emigh is in the line-up.
The Lady Eagles won 44-33, giving them back-to-back wins for the first time since the first week of December, when they strung together wins over Huntingdon and BEA to open the season. Now 5-10, Tyrone kept alive its hopes of entering the District 6 playoffs, while Bald Eagle fell to 3-12.
Tyrone forced 24 turnovers with their own full-court pressure, limited leading scorer Danielle Reese to just one field goal, and held BEA to 27 percent shooting in one of its most cohesive games of the season. It was almost enough to take the edge off the sting of the Lady Eagles’ fourth quarter letdown for coach Luke Rhoades.
“We needed to finish better around the hoop,” said Rhoades. “We actually should have put that game away.”
Tyrone had plenty of opportunities around the basket late in the game after dissecting Bald Eagles’ top-heavy 1-2-1-1 press, but in the fourth quarter the Lady Eagles had serious trouble converting. Not only did they miss all 10 of their shot attempts, but they also hit just 1 of 4 foul shots until there were 12.6 seconds left.
It was enough to allow BEA to sneak back into the game at 42-33 with 35 seconds, but by then it was too late. Kayla Corle calmly sank two foul shots 20 seconds later to rebuild a double-digit lead.
The key for Tyrone from the start was the ability of Emigh to penetrate BEA’s defense, whether in the half-court or against the press. In the first quarter, she scored nine of her game-high 11, mostly by getting to the basket. With 2:08 left in the period, she drove the baseline and elevated for a lay up in traffic, hitting the shot and drawing a foul. After she made the foul shot, it was 17-4.
Bald Eagle turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter, and coughed it up five more times in the second, when Tyrone built a 26-14 halftime lead. The Lady Eagles started the period on a 10-1 run. BEA went without a field goal until the 4:34 mark and trailed 26-14 at halftime.
Unlike the Lady Eagles’ first game against BEA, when Bald Eagles’ 5-foot-11 post Danielle Reese controlled the offensive glass and scored 20 points in a narrow Tyrone win, last night Reese was a non-factor, scoring just two points.
“I thought Lindsey Christine did a great job shutting down Reese and Marah Hawes was strong for us on the boards,” Rhoades said.
Hawes finished with 18 rebounds to go along with eight points, while Christine had nine points.
If BEA had any hopes of getting back into the game, they evaporated quickly in the third quarter. Going exclusively to full-court pressure, Bald Eagle opened the gates on what turned into a glorified lay-up drill for the Lady Eagles who, with Emigh easily commanding the middle of the floor, broke BEA’s pressure often for easy baskets in close.
Tyrone started the third making its first four shots and finished 7-for-12. Hawes, Corle and Christine each had two baskets as the Lady Eagles extended their lead to 41-20 with 1:26 to go in the period.
“We pushed the ball well and saw the floor well,” said Rhoades. “I thought we made some very unselfish passes, although we didn’t always finish our shots.”
The Lady Eagles will have to Friday when they travel to Bellefonte to play the state’s ninth ranked Class AAA school, a team that squeaked by Tyrone 53-47 in the borough last month.
“That’s a big game Friday against a good team, and you have to finish big plays to beat a team like that,” said Rhoades.
Junior Varsity
Tyrone dropped the jayvee game 54-32 in a game that was even for three of four quarters. BEA took the second quarter 13-1.
Paris Harden led the Lady Eagles with 10 points, while Suzanne Zimmerman chipped in 8.
Tyrone 44 BEA 33
Bald Eagle Area – Simpson 3 1-1 7, Butterworth 0 4-4 4, Rougeux 1 1-2 3, Kristofic 4 0-0 8, Reese 1 0-0 2, Hoover 1 1-2 3, Morgan 3 0-0 6. Totals: 13 7-9 33.
Tyrone – Christine 4 0-0 9, Corle 2 4-7 8, Faretta 2 1-2 6, Emigh 5 1-6 11, Harden 0 2-2 2, Hawes 4 0-0 8, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 8-17 44.
Score By Quarters
Bald Eagle Area 6 8 10 9 – 33
Tyrone 14 12 15 3 – 44
Three-point goals: Tyrone 2 (Christine, Faretta)
