Anyone who has been around Tyrone\’s girls basketball program long enough understands that there are certain names you just don\’t throw around lightly.
When coach Jim Swaney makes comparisons of players from different eras, rarely- if ever – do they include names like Norris, Diehl, Grazier or DelBaggio. In his eyes, those are players who carved such an indelible mark on the program that to use their names lightly would be next to heresy.
So after the Lady Eagles defeated Bald Eagle Area 55-28 last night at the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium – holding their second straight opponent below 30 points – it was surprising to hear Swaney invoke a hallowed name from the past, while placing his two top defenders in a class all by themselves.
“I don\’t know if we\’ve ever had two kids who can defend the way Emily Lloyd and Emily Ingle do,” said Swaney of his two senior guards. “Even on some of those great teams – I mean, Meagan DelBaggio could defend – we may have never had two kids who can defend like them.\”
After the duo\’s first four games this season, it would be hard to argue. On a team that expects to scrap for points night in and night out, it\’s been the defensive effort of Lloyd and Ingle that has been the biggest difference in making Tyrone 3-1 (1-0 MAC Section II), rather than 1-3. They\’ve hounded their assignments from endline to endline, shut down top scorers, and invigorated the Lady Eagles\’ collective team defense.
After a sluggish first half last night, Ingle\’s third quarter defensive intensity lit a fire under the Lady Eagles that would not be extinguished until most of the starting rotation was pulled with three minutes left in the game. In the period, Tyrone forced 10 turnovers and held BEA to a single field goal at the 3:04 mark. The Lady Eagles scored 18, and increased their five-point halftime lead to 37-17.
“Ingle was getting their point guard to really pick the ball up high, and the rest of the kids were doing a great job on their close-outs,” Swaney said. “We were picking up a lot of steals that way.”
The tightly contested first half wasn\’t a surprise, considering Emily McKenna – Tyrone\’s top scorer – struggled through two scoreless periods. She regrouped to nail three three-pointers as part of a 13-point second half.
Marissa Hoover and Ingle each scored nine points, while Tiffany Bradford added eight.
“Certainly, McKenna getting a little bit of a hot hand in the second half helped us,” Swaney said. “We created some offense with our defense, and we have to play that way. We\’re not an overpowering offensive team.”
With Bald Eagle (2-2, 0-1 MAC Section II) struggling to respond to Tyrone\’s defensive pressure in the third quarter, the Lady Eagles went on a run that put the game away. Bradford scored on a basket inside 20 seconds into the period, and 30 seconds later McKenna laid one in off a feed from Ingle after Ingle came up with a steal at the other end.
Hoover, Bradford and Ingle went 3-for-6 at the foul line over the next 1:40 to make it 26-14, McKenna made her first three-pointer of the game, and Ingle scored on a pass from McKenna to lift the Lady Eagles to a 31-14 advantage.
After Kylie Masters hit a three five minutes into the period, Tyrone closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead by 20.
BEA matched its five-minute drought without a field goal in the fourth quarter, going until the 3:03 mark until it made a basket from the floor.
“We feel good about where we\’re at right now,” said Swaney, whose team will take on Bishop Guilfoyle and Lewistown on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. “This week is a big challenge for us.”
The game against the once-beaten Lady Marauders is at Pleasant Valley Gymnasium, while the undefeated Panthers visit Tyrone.
HOOP NOTES: Junior Liz Tepsic led Tyrone with seven rebounds … Hoover grabbed five boards … BEA turned the ball over 30 times to Tyrone\’s 12 … the Lady Eagles played 13 players.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone\’s jayvees evened their record at 2-2 with a 45-17 win over BEA in the opener.
Kayla Corle topped the Lady Eagles\’ scoring effort with a game-high 14 points, while Megan Turiano added 13.
Sarah Halter chipped in eight for Tyrone, which shut out BEA 8-0 in the third quarter, before outscoring the Lady Eagles 19-5 in the fourth.
VARSITY
Tyrone 55 Bald Eagle Area 28
BALD EAGLE AREA – A. Reese 0 4-7 4; Kristofik 1 2-2 4; Weaver 0 0-0 0; Hoover 0 0-0 0; D. Reese 1 0-0 2; Garner 2 2-4 6; Masters 1 0-0 3; Doran 1 0-2 2; Kilmer 0 1-2 1; Gierdroc 2 2-2 6. TOTALS: 8 11-19 28.
TYRONE – McKenna 5 0-0 13; Lloyd 2 0-0 4; Ingle 3 3-6 9; Hoover 4 1-2 9; Bradford 3 2-4 8; Tepsic 2 2-2 6; Bryan 0 0-0 0; Christine 1 1-2 3; Corle 0 3-4 3; Faretta 0 0-0 0; Long 0 0-0 0; Walker 0 0-0 0; Garbinsky 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 12-20 55.
Score by Quarter
BALD EAGLE 2 12 3 11 – 28
TYRONE 8 11 18 18 – 55
THREE-POINT GOALS: Bald Eagle Area 1 (Masters)
Tyrone 3 (McKenna 3)
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone 45 Bald Eagle Area 17
BALD EAGLE AREA – Simpson 1 0-0 3; Rougeux 0 1-2 1; Hoover 0 1-2 1; Kristofik 3 0-1 6; D. Reese 1 2-2 4; Granite 1 0-0 2; Morgan 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 6 4-9 17.
TYRONE – Christine 2 1-2 6; Turiano 5 2-2 13; Corle 5 4-10 14; Garbinsky 0 0-0 0; Faretta 1 1-2 3; Halter 2 3-4 8; Cox 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 15 12-22 45.
Score by Quarter
BALD EAGLE 6 0 6 5 – 17
TYRONE 8 10 8 19 – 45
3-POINT GOALS: Bald Eagle Area 1 (Simpson)
Tyrone 3 (Christine, Halter, Turiano)
