Two great teams matched up Friday night at Central as the 2-1 Golden Eagles took on the 4-1 Scarlet Dragons from Central. It was a stubborn defensive battle from both teams throughout the game but Tyrone edged out Central, 45-40.
It seemed as though Central had a game plan for Friday night, and that was to shut down Steve Catich. Well, they had their hands full. As the Dragons doubled and even triple teamed Catich, he still found open looks early, but couldn’t convert. After a 9-9 first quarter, both teams looked to continue their stubborn defense because it was working to perfection.
In the second period both teams came out with different looks. Tyrone started with a full-court press and Central countered with an extended three-two/one-three-one look. The two teams kept going strong, but Tyrone dropped into a half-court zone by the end of the first half.
With the score, 19-16 in favor of Central, Tyrone needed a spark in that explosive offense as they went into halftime with their lowest halftime outing yet.
“We knew we had to take care of the ball a little better,” Tyrone head coach George Gripp stated at halftime. “I felt we needed to come out strong on the boards and get the offense moving a little more. We switched into a man-to-man defense the entire second half, and it worked great for us.”
At the break, Tyrone had 10 turnovers to Central’s nine, keeping the game almost as even as the score at 19-16. The Dragons held Catich to just four first half points.
Catich came out swinging in the third quarter, putting in 10 of his game-high 23 points. He helped Tyrone outlast a 28-22 lead with an 8-1 run spark, propelling the Eagles ahead 30-28 with 1:47 to go in the third. This would be the last they scored as Central managed to score the last five points, going on top 33-30 after three.
It was a game of possession, and whoever kept the turnovers down and the good shots up was going to win the battle.
After an opening Drew Ebersole trey, Tyrone responded with an 11-0 run, taking a 41-36 lead with 1:53 remaining in the game. Yes, that’s right, Tyrone managed to hold Central scoreless for over five straight minutes in the fourth quarter.
With seven forced turnovers and Catich finding himself on every loose ball, steal, and missed shots, it was hard for Central to fight back.
“When he [Catich] has to take his game to the next level, he can do it,” said Gripp. “Against Bellefonte he came up with a couple of key rebounds at the end of the game, and tonight he showed that he could do it again. He played great defense on [Jace] Keller, blocking his shot at the end and then taking it coast-to-coast in transition late in the game. He stepped up his game tonight for us.”
With time running down, Central managed to cut the lead to two, but Tyrone sunk key free-throws and held off a couple of long range shots to end the game at 45-40, Tyrone with the victory.
Catich led all scorers with 23 points, and Nate Dane added 10 more as Tyrone improves to 3-1 on the season and come home Monday against Juniata Valley. Catich has scored 79 points in his last three games and 90 points already on the season. The senior is averaging 22.5 points-per-game this season and looks to continue his dominance among the MAC conference.
Derik Forshey and Keller each tallied 13 points in the loss for Central. The Scarlet Dragons fall to 4-2 on the season.
“We have three big games next week with Monday and Wednesday at home, and then traveling to Penns Valley Friday night,” said Gripp. “We look to take it one game at a time, however, so we will prepare for Juniata Valley this weekend.”
Tyrone 45 Central 40
Score by Quarters
Tyrone – Catich 10 3-6 23, Dane 4 2-4 10, Gehret 1 1-2 3, Updyke 1 0-0 3, Franco 1 1-2 3, Peterman 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 7-14 45.
Central – Forshey 3 6-7 13, Keller 5 2-3 13, Cafferty 4 1-2 9, Ebersole 1 0-0 3, Ewart 1 0-1 2, Kurtz 0 0-1 0. Totals 14 9-14 40.
Tyrone 9 7 14 15 – 45
Cen 9 10 14 7 – 40
Three-point goals: Tyrone-2 (Peterman, Updyke)
Central-3 (Forshey, Keller, Ebersole)
Tyrone Jayvee slide by at Central
Andy Brokenshire carried the jayvees to victory over the Scarlet Dragons, Friday night, as he put up 10 points in the win. He controlled the tempo with his impressive moves to keep defenders honest throughout the game. Levi Reihart added nine points including two trey’s. Jordan Taylor also added nine points as well for Tyrone.
The Eagles went on to win 35-33 as a last second pass was intercepted at the throw-in.
Drew Ebersole led the Dragons with 13 points in the loss.
Tyrone 35 Central 33
Tyrone- Brokenshire 5 0-1 10, Reihart 3 1-2 9, Taylor 4 1-1 9, McKeehan 2 0-0 4, Henneman 1 0-0 3, Lynn 0 0-1 0, Murray 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 2-7 35.
Central – Ebersole 6 0-3 13, Hamilton 2 0-0 5, Forshey 3 0-0 7, Runk 3 2-2 8, Totals 14 2-5 33.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 12 4 9 10 – 35
Central 12 9 8 4 -33
Three-point goals: Tyrone-3 (Reihart-2, Henneman).
Central-3 (Ebersole, Hamilton, Forshey).
