With five straight losses, Tyrone has looked and sought for answers in each game to find a way to break open a solid performance on both sides of the court. The Eagles have had trouble scoring at points in each of their five losses, but they also went on defensive lapses, which aided the below average play.
Tyrone looked to turn everything around as they took on the heavily favored Red Raiders of Bellefonte Tuesday night. The Raiders stood a strong 4-1 and unbeaten in the conference (2-0) as they would face off against a 1-5 (0-2) Tyrone team. It was all but a battle to Bellefonte, but Tyrone needed a victory to snap this mad losing streak.
As the game got underway, Tyrone struck first behind a Leonard Wilson lay-up in which he blew by his opponent for the first bucket. The crowd was on their feet early as Tyrone created a slight momentum shift on the first play of the game.
It was six Raider points later that Tyrone was forced to call a timeout after allowing two easy jumpers slip by and were having a horrible time finding mid-range jumpers from their slingers, Byron Kost and Steve Catich.
Bellefonte took advantage of Tyrone’s missed attempts and fed the transition offense nine of their 16 first quarter points, taking the early jump out of the gate, 16-10.
The first quarter belonged to Bellefonte as they controlled their offense and got open shots. Jordan Williams truly made himself a better player by shooting off of the dribble against the talented defense of Wilson. He made his shots, but it seemed as though Tyrone didn’t have it in them to control the home court advantage during the first half of the game. It was an uphill battle, despite Wilson’s tough performance in the first half as he led the way with 11 of Tyrone’s 22 first half points.
The second quarter was really rough for Tyrone as Bellefonte tore off a 16-0 run, two coming from the end of the first quarter, as they jumped out in front, 28-10 before Wilson took Williams to the rack for two of Tyrone’s 12 second quarter points. It seemed as though Tyrone was almost out of the game until the Eagles busted up the lead a little bit as they would outscore the Raiders 12-5 in the remaining three minutes in the half.
Bellefonte did a great job on Byron Kost in the first half as they held him to just three points on a mental lapse with :04 to go in the half as Kost gave the Eagles a little less lead to overcome at the half. Tyrone would trail, however, 33-22 after one half of play. They had a lot of room to make up and it wasn’t looking pretty.
“We had to sort some things out at halftime,” Tyrone coach Mike Harris stated. “The guys had to get re-focused and get back on the same page. I expected more out of our return letter-winners than what I saw in the first half.”
It was words of wisdom from Harris as the Eagles looked to turn around this mess they made in the first half.
After a Wilson lay-up and a Williams trey, Tyrone busted off an 8-0 run led by Wilson and Kost as they cut the lead to just four points (36-32) with 4:35 to go in the third quarter. Tyrone’s crowd was on the edge of their seat the rest of the game as Tyrone completely swung the momentum around.
Bellefonte jumped back into the mix as Williams hit four of their next six points to make a 6-0 run with two minutes to go in the third quarter making it 42-32 and cut some of the crowds tension off.
It seemed as though every time Tyrone edged in, Bellefonte pulled away, but this time Tyrone wasn’t going anywhere. With :56.1 to go in the third quarter, Catich hit two free-throws that cut the lead to eight. A turnover from the Raiders allowed Kost to find an opening in the defense with 14 seconds left to drain his second trey of the game. Another miscue on Bellefonte’s part gave Catich the open opportunity as he took advantage and swept across the baseline for two of his game-high 20 points to cut the deficit to just three points going into the fourth quarter (42-39). It was pandemonium in Tyrone as the players, coaches and fans were lifted to their feet at the start of this exciting fourth quarter.
“I though Byron Kost’s defense was outstanding,” Harris said. “He denied the wing really well tonight. ‘Stevie’ Catich played really well on both ends of the floor as well as Leonard [Wilson]. Adam Corle has been struggling with his shot, but tonight he found a way to pull down some huge boards in the second half and played a great game defensively as well. Overall, I though Leonard’s defense on Jordan Williams was absolutely outstanding in the second half.”
Wilson scored early in the fourth, cutting the lead to just one point shy of seeing their second lead of the game (Tyrone scored the first points of the game). After a timeout from Tyrone, Tyler Hoover jumped into the action as he found himself scoring the go-ahead bucket for Tyrone putting them ahead, 43-42. The crowd went crazy and continued to keep up the noise level, as Bellefonte would turn the ball over 13 times in the second half, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.
Catich took advantage of the Raider turnover as he took his man baseline once again for the easy lay-in over Williams that extended Tyrone’s lead to three (45-42) with 5:57 to go in the game. Bellefonte chose to call a timeout to try and break the momentum up a little bit as they found themselves down by three after leading the game by as much as 18 points at one time.
After the timeout, Zach Robbins broke up Tyrone’s 13-0 run as he hit an eight foot jumper in the lane to make it 45-44 with 4:59 to go. It was going to be a tight finish for Tyrone to pull off the upset, but the house was on their side and the momentum was open for grabs.
On the ensuing possession, Tyrone hit two quick passes in which Catich found himself open for a jumper just inside the three point line that sprung Tyrone ahead by three again, (47-44). It was a big shot for Tyrone as they kept the crowd into the game and on the edge of their seats.
As Williams hit another jumper, Tyrone answered with four straight points from Tyler Hoover and Josh Clark, swinging the door open to a five point Tyrone lead with 1:26 to go in the game, (51-46).
It was time for the Raiders to get the ball to their slinger, Williams, who had scored 22 points in the game up to that point. As Phil Giunta looked for Williams, Wilson kept him contain, but Hoover let Giunta test his range as he decided that firing a three point attempt would be the last resort since there was no one open. Bang! He drained it and Bellefonte cut the lead down to just two points (51-49) with 1:06 to go in the game.
Tyrone knew they would have to make all of their free-throws in order to ensure victory, and they did just that. Catich hit two of two as he was fouled with 39.6 seconds left in the game to put Tyrone up 53-49.
On the ensuing possession, Chris Snare got a little friendly with Tyrone’s cheerleaders as it looked as if he handed one of the girls the ball as he turned it over with just 29 seconds left in the game.
Clark was fouled and went to the line to shoot his bonus free-throws where he would miss both, but Hoover quickly followed the shot and put Tyrone up six with 17 seconds left (55-49). Tyrone would go on to win, 56-50 and snap their five game skid against the Red Raiders from Bellefonte.
Leonard Wilson and Steve Catich combined for 38 of Tyrone’s 56 points as Catich led the way with 20, Wilson with 18. They will take this momentum as they defend their house against Indian Valley Friday night. Tyrone improves to 2-5 and 1-2 in the conference on the year.
Despite Jordan Williams 23 points, Bellefonte drops to 4-2 and 2-1 in the conference. Williams was held to three fourth quarter points by Wilson as he was completely shut down by the fury from the “red-machine,” Leonard Wilson.
Tyrone 56 Bellefonte 56
Bellefonte – Williams 10 2-5 23, Brown 2 2-2 6, Robbins 3 0-1 6, Giunta 2 0-0 5, Snare 2 0-0 5, Glunt 1 0-0 3, Johnson 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 20 4-8 50.
Tyrone – Catich 8 4-4 20, Wilson 6 6-7 18, Kost 3 1-2 9, Hoover 3 0-0 6, Clark 1 1-4 3. Totals 2112-17 56.
Score by Quarter
Bellefonte 16 17 9 8 – 50
Tyrone 10 12 17 17 – 56
Three-point goals Tyrone-2 (Kost-2) Bellefonte-4 (Williams, Giunta, Snare, Glunt)
Tyrone JV’s win in overtime
Tyrone’s JV team led by 2 at halftime but Bellefonte chipped away and took a five point lead into the fourth quarter. Tyrone knotted the score in the fourth and shut out the Red Raiders in overtime as Etters’ three pointer put them ahead for good. Tyrone was led by Wade Branstetter (10) and Etters (12).
Tyrone 39 Bellefonte 34
Tyrone – Branstetter 5 0-0 10, Stover 1 0-0 2, Gehret 2 3-4 7, Hampton 2 0-0 4, Brooks 2 0-0 4, Etters 4 0-0 12. Totals 16 3-4 39.
Bellefonte – Tressler 4 0-0 12, Rosenberry 4 0-0 8, Poorman 1 0-0 2, Leathers 0 1-2 1, Irwin 4 0-0 8, Hallahan 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 1-2 34
Score by Quarter
Bellefonte 10 9 11 4 0 – 34
Tyrone 13 8 5 8 5 – 39
