Finishing the 2005-6 season that began back on Dec. 3, Tyrone’s ninth grade boys basketball team completed their mission by defeating the host team Clearfield Bisons twice in the semifinal and final games to capture the 10th annual Clearfield Ninth Grade Basketball Tournament.
The four straight wins in the tournament raised the Eagles final season record to an impressive 24-3.
Friday Semifinal Game vs. Clearfield
Following their two wins over St. Marys (43-28) and Curwensville (52-25) last Wednesday, the Eagles had earned their way to the semifinal game on Friday evening. At the same time, host team Clearfield had also advanced by defeating last year’s tournament champions, the Jersey Shore Bulldogs.
As evidenced by their earlier meeting in the last game of the regular season where Tyrone prevailed 36-35, the two teams battled each other hard on the way to a first quarter 9-9 tie. During that quarter, the Eagles got only one three-point basket from Travis Peterman, but converted six of 11 free throws as the Bisons tried to stop Tyrone physically.
In the second period, Tyrone hit another four-for-four from the line, but also added baskets from Nate Dane and John Shaffer underneath. And in dramatic fashion, following a timeout, Kyle Updyke banked in a long three-pointer at the buzzer to give Tyrone a 20-13 halftime advantage.
Ben Ingle started the third quarter with a pretty three-pointer to make it 23-13, and then moments later Travis Peterman made a great save with a heady pass to Dane for a layup to stretch the lead to 25-13.
But the Bisons came back hard, outscoring the Eagles 9-3 the rest of the period to cut the lead to 28-22.
The Clearfield charge continued into the final quarter, as their defense made the Eagles miss several close shot attempts. And Tyrone’s only score of the fourth quarter came from a three-pointer from the corner by John Shaffer.
With 19 seconds left, the Bisons sank two free throws to tie the game at 31, and time ran out, sending the game into overtime.
In the overtime, intense defensive pressure from both teams kept each other from scoring nearly the whole period until Nate Dane snatched a long rebound, passed to Shaffer on the right side of the lane, and he found Ingle cutting on the weak side with a great pass for a layup.
The Bisons called timeout with 16 seconds left to set up a play. Playing tough defense on the Clearfield scorers in the half-court, the Bisons fired off a desperation shot with three seconds remaining, and a lucky bounce gave them a putback rebound to tie the game at 33-33 as the buzzer sounded.
The Eagles wasted no time in the second overtime as Kyle Updyke scored on a runner down the right side of the lane while getting fouled. He sank the free throw, giving the Eagles a three point 36-33 edge, and Tyrone held on till Ben Ingle’s two free throws with four seconds left iced the game.
The Eagles survived 38-33.
Ingle and Updyke scored 11 and 9 points, respectively, to lead the way
In all, the Eagles hit only 10 field goals (four of them three-pointers), but were able to convert 14-22 free throws for the semifinal win.
The win put Tyrone into Saturday morning’s final while sending Clearfield to the loser’s bracket.
Tyrone 38 Clearfield 33, 2OT
Score by quarters
Tyrone 9 11 8 3 2 5 – 38
Clearfield 9 4 9 9 2 0 – 33
Tyrone – Ingle 11, Updyke 9, Shaffer 6, Dane 6, Peterman 5, Etters 1
Saturday Championship Game vs. Clearfield
While the Eagles had put themselves in the driver’s seat for the double-elimination tournament, Clearfield came back Saturday morning and won the loser’s bracket by narrowly defeating Jersey Shore. The win earned them one more shot at Tyrone. But the Bison’s would have to defeat Tyrone twice to win the tournament.
In the first quarter, the game was starting to look like another close battle as Clearfield‚’ best scorer, Matt Shiner, hit a three-point shot near the end of the period to take an 8-7 lead.
And in the first three minutes of the second quarter, Tyrone was having difficulty getting the lid off the basket. But then Ben Ingle hit his second three-pointer of the game to give the Eagles an 11-9 lead.
Forty seconds later, at 2:22, Kyle Updyke penetrated and dished to John Shaffer for a layup to go up 13-9. A free throw moments later by Shaffer made it 14-9. And then, Ingle intercepted a pass from the Bisons, threw it to Travis Peterman, and he buried it for three more points and a 17-9 lead.
Desperate to get a basket, Clearfield tried to get the ball to Shiner on the left sideline, but Ethan Etters anticipated it and intercepted, taking it all the way for a layup with nine seconds left and a 19-9 halftime lead.
In the first few minutes of the third quarter, the Bisons failed to stop Tyrone as Ingle and Peterman both hit three-pointers, and Nate Dane hit Peterman with a nice pass down low for a layup.
Clearfield’s coach sensed that his starters were running out of energy, and unable to stop the Eagles defensively. With 2 minutes to go in the period, he substituted his bench.
Coaches Mitchell and Elvey did likewise, and the reserve players got to finish the rest of the game.
The Eagles won 38-23, and captured the Clearfield Tournament championship, capping off an impressive 24-3 season. Travis Peterman and Ben Ingle led the Tyrone scoring with 10 and nine points, respectively.
For Nate Dane, who went down with a knee injury during last year’s tournament, the win was especially sweet.
Tyrone 38 Clearfield 23
Score by quarters
Tyrone 7 12 10 9 – 38
Clearfield 8 1 7 7 – 23
Tyrone – Peterman 10, Ingle 9, Updyke 5, Shaffer 5, Young 4, Black 3, Taylor 2
As a mark of a balanced team effort over the 27 game campaign and an offensive attack that was difficult to defend, Tyrone’s five starters averaged anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0 points per game, and yet had 38 double-figure efforts and 76 three-pointers.
The Eagles scored an average of 43 points per game while allowing their opponents only 26 ppg.
