The 32 minutes of effort Tyrone girls basketball coach Luke Rhoades had been looking for finally came last night at home against Bellefonte.
Ironically, they didn’t produce quite the same result as the less complete games the Lady Eagles put together last week.
For four quarters, Tyrone made big shots, rebounded the basketball, and executed Rhoades’ defensive game plan to perfection, clamping down on Raider leading scorer Angie Proper, who managed just eight points. Still, it wasn’t enough against the 2007 District 6-AAA runners-up, who made 8 of 13 foul shots in the fourth quarter – including 5 of 6 in the final 44 seconds – to clinch the 53-47 victory.
“I am very proud of our effort for 32 minutes,” Rhoades said. “The girls need to be proud of their effort and realize if they play at this level every night, we’ll be OK.”
They could be better than OK, because the Lady Eagles went stretches where they could do little wrong. It was the kind of effort Rhoades said his team will need as soon as Thursday, when it hosts Central. That game is No. 2 in an 8-game swing that includes games against Central Mountain, Bishop Guilfoyle and DeLone Catholic.
“Our next seven games are going to be very tough,” he said. “We have to pull some of these out. We need to come back with the attitude that we are going to be Central.”
Tyrone (2-1, 1-1 Mountain League) forced six Bellefonte turnovers and connected on their last four shots in the first quarter to take a 17-15 lead. Led by Kayla Corle and Rachel Emigh, the Lady Eagles finished the period on a 6-0 run.
But in the second, with Kassie Faretta in the pocket of Proper, the inside began to open up for the Lady Raiders. Post Jena Matter scored 8 of her team-high 15 points in the quarter, including six straight to start the frame and give Bellefonte a 21-17 lead. Lindsey Christine pulled Tyrone within a point with her second three-pointer of the game, and later Corle scored five straight points on a three and a baseline jumper as the Lady Eagles trailed just 29-24 at halftime.
“Coming in, their posts weren’t doing much of their scoring,” Rhoades said. “By taking Proper away, it took away our weak side help, and they high-lowed us very well. We had a hard time adjusting to it.”
The Lady Eagles had a couple chances to tie the game or take the lead in the third quarter, but turnovers prevented it. The Dagger came with 2:30 to go in the quarter when, with the Lady Eagles down 36-33, Tyrone came away with a steal and a chance to tie or pull within one. But before they could get into their offense, they turned the ball over themselves, and Proper was able to go the distance for a lay up and a 38-33 lead.
Tyrone turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter, one less than its total for the other three quarters combined.
The Lady Raiders then started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run, and kept Tyrone off the board until 3:11 remained in the game.
“The difference in the game was there were key times when we were down two points and we didn’t even get a shot at the basket,” said Rhoades.
Tyrone hit its final four shots from the field, but Bellefonte’s steady shooting from the foul line kept the Lady Eagles at bay.
Corle, who scored 12 points in the first half, led Tyrone with 16 points, while Christine and Emigh each scored 12.
Emigh has scored double figures for Tyrone in every game this season, while Corle made it two out of three.
VARSITY
BELLEFONTE 53 TYRONE 47
TYRONE – Christine 5 0-0 12; Corle 7 0-0 16; Faretta 1 0-2 3; Garbinsky 0 0-0 0; Emigh 5 2-6 12; Harden 2 0-0 4; Hawes 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 2-8 47.
BELLEFONTE – Stover 4 1-2 9; McDaniel 2 2-2 7; Caparelle 1 0-1 2; Port 3 1-2 8; Fromm 2 0-0 4; Proper 2 4-6 8; Matter 7 1-1 15. TOTALS: 21 9-14 53.
SCORE BY QUARTER
BELLEFONTE 15 14 11 13 – 53
TYRONE 17 10 10 10 – 47
THREE-POINT GOALS: Tyrone 5 (Christine 2, Corle 2, Faretta),
Bellefonte 2 (McDaniel, Port)
JUNIOR VARSITY
SCORE BY QUARTER
BELLEFONTE 9 11 12 14 – 46
TYRONE 9 3 4 0 – 16
High Scorers: Mara Hawes 4, Brook Romano – 4
