 |
Tyrone girls basketball coach Luke Rhoades learned enough in his first season to know that an ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day. So although the Lady Eagles struggled last night in their season-opener at Huntingdon, shooting just 33 percent and turning the ball over 20 times, Rhoades has no plans to exchange his team’s 51-48 victory for style points. It makes sense, especially when you consider that – late in the fourth quarter – the Lady Eagles earned their win. Forced to come back from a five-point deficit, Tyrone shot its way out a jam, connecting on 6 of 10 shots in the last frame. Then, when trying to seal the game in the final minute from the foul line, the Lady Eagles controlled the boards, pulling down three offensive rebounds on three missed free throws to maintain possession of the ball and run clock. “We needed to be mentally tough,” said Rhoades. “I thought we went hard the entire game, except for a 30 second span in the third quarter, when we turned the ball over and they got some lay-ups.” The half-minute Rhoades referred to started right after starting point guard Rachel Emigh picked up her fourth foul with 3:23 left in the third quarter. At the time, the Lady Eagles had their largest lead of the game at 33-27, but Emigh was called for a charge on a move to the basket. With her gone, Tyrone turned the ball over on three straight possessions, and the Lady ‘Cats evened the score with 2:22 left in the third. It was 37-35 in the fourth after Lindsey Christine sank a jump shot from the wing, but a 7-0 Huntingdon run gave the Lady ‘Cats a 42-37 lead at the 6:00 mark. Rhoades reinserted Emigh with 5:32 left in the game, and the sophomore’s impact was immediate. She scored on consecutive possessions – once on a lay up and once on a jumper – to pull Tyrone within 44-43. Christine then gave Tyrone the lead with a steal and a basket, but Huntingdon went on top 47-46 with just over a minute to play on two foul shots from Kelly Scott. That was when senior Kassie Faretta – who missed most of the game herself after picking up two fouls early in the first quarter – popped open for a three pointer that made it 49-47 and forced Huntingdon to foul when the Lady Eagles took possession. “We definitely got into foul trouble there in the third,” said Rhoades. “When Rachel went down, we took a step back. It was hard getting the ball up the court. But Brook Garbinsky stepped in and did a nice job for us there, and Kayla Corle made some big shots.” Corle made just one foul shot in the fourth quarter, but it was her shooting through the first three periods that kept Tyrone in command. She scored 10 in the second quarter alone as the Lady Eagles built a 25-21 lead. In the third, when the Lady Eagles’ were hanging on by a thread with their floor general sidelined, her jump shot from the corner gave the Lady Eagles a two-point lead after Huntingdon had tied it. “We wanted her to have the ball in her hands at the end,” said Rhoades of Corle. “She played very well and she shot well. Now we need her to do that every night.” Even when Corle missed the back end of a one-and-one, her teammates were there to pick her up. Christine cleaned up Corle’s miss and was fouled immediately with 18.9 seconds left. Her foul shot was long, but sophomore Mara Hawes came away with the board, leading to a pair of Emigh foul shots. When Emigh missed her second attempt, Corle grabbed the board. “We rebounded very well,” said Rhoades. “Lindsey did a nice job on the boards, and I was really pleased with Mara Hawes, in her first varsity game, and how well she rebounded.” Corle finished with a team-high 19 points, while Emigh had 15. Brittany McNeal led all scorers with 24 points. JUNIOR VARSITY Ashley Ford scored eight points to lead Tyrone’s jayvees, but the Lady Eagles made just 5 of 17 free throws in a 34-32 loss. VARSITY TYRONE 51 HUNTINGDON 48 TYRONE – Christine 2 0-1 4; Corle 6 5-6 19; Faretta 2 1-2 6; Garbinsky 0 3-4 3; Emigh 6 3-10 15; Harden 1 0-0 2; Hawes 0 2-2 2; Ray 0 0-0 0; Zimmerman 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 14-26 51. HUNTINGDON – Scott 3 3-4 10; Leating 5 0-0 10; Sellers 1 1-3 3; Quinn 0 0-1 0; Gibbs 1 1-3 3; McNeal 9 4-4 24. TOTALS: 19 9-15 48. TYRONE 3 22 10 16 – 51 HUNTINGDON 9 11 15 13 – 48 3-POINT GOALS: Tyrone 3 (Corle 2, Faretta), Huntingdon 3 (Scott, McNeal 2) JUNIOR VARSITY TYRONE – Hawes 3 0-2 6; Harden 2 0-0 4; Ray 2 2-4 6; Zimmerman 2 1-2 6; Romano 2 2-5 6; Adams 0 0-0 0; Harpster 0 0-0 0; Ford 4 0-4 8; Bryan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 5-17 32. HUNTINGDON – Clevenger 1 1-4 3; Wilson 1 0-0 2; Yale 2 0-2 4; Auran 0 1-4 1; Jackson 1 1-2 3; Corcelin 0 1-2 1; Ross 1 0-0 2; Sellers 4 3-6 11; Nedal 3 0-0 6; Kistler 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 14 6-20 – 34. TYRONE 6 8 8 10 – 32 HUNTINGDON 7 9 8 10 – 34 3-POINT GOALS: Tyrone 1 (Zimmerman) |
| It’s my ball: Tyrone’s Kayla Corle holds on to the basketball after fighting for the rebound during Tuesday evening’s girls basketball game at Huntingdon. Corle and her Tyrone teammates pulled out a 41-38 victory in the opener for the Lady Eagles. (The Daily Herald/Amanda McIlroy) |
