Traveling to Clearfield last Thursday to take on the Bisons from Clearfield for their final regular season game, the Tyrone Junior High basketball team was looking to finish with a win.
Coming out strong in the first quarter, the Bisons took the early lead, scoring two baskets right away to go up 4-0. But Brandon Gehret hit a three pointer to get back within one point. From there, Clearfield controlled the tempo in the rest of the first quarter, scoring three more times to take a 10-4 lead.
In the second period Tyrone rebounded. Coach Mitchell called Nathan Dane off the bench for some inside help, and he responded with six points. Baskets by Josh Bradley, Chris McCaulley, and Jon Harris helped fuel the comeback, and the Eagles went into the locker room at halftime up 16-14.
After halftime, Dane got an early inside bucket. But by halfway through the third period, Clearfield scored several times off their inside game to go up 22-18. However, in the next couple of minutes the Eagles would take control. A three-pointer by Gehret at 2:40 made it 22-21. And then at 2:02, Josh Bradley got a rebound and went end to end to put the Eagles up to stay at 23-22. At 1:15, Gehret got a steal and went all the way for a layup, and then got another layup with a foul 20 seconds later. Gehret missed the free throw, but an alert Travis Peterman grabbed the loose ball and hit a jumper just inside the three-point line to make it 29-23. One more free throw at the end of the quarter by Gehret gave him 8 points for the period, and Tyrone a 30-23 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Clearfield immediately surged to begin the final period, scoring twice to get within 30-27, but Tyrone’s Bradley got loose underneath to hit a bucket down low plus a free throw to make it 33-27. Clearfield scored three more times to tie the game at 33-33. The Eagles responded with a great hustle play by Bradley, who saved a ball from going out of bounds on the offensive end, and hit Chris McCaulley for an easy score from the side. And then at 2:45, Dane got an inside pass, pump-faked the defender, and got a basket to put Tyrone up 37-33. With 1:47 to go, Tyrone missed a one-on-one foul opportunity, and the Bisons quickly scored to get within two at 37-35. One more free throw by Gehret at 15 seconds made it 38-35, and the Bisons missed the last second chance three-pointer to attempt a tie.
Brandon Gehret led the way for the Eagles with 12 points, with 10 from Nathan Dane and eight from Josh Bradley. The win finished their regular season with a record of 16-4. They will now prepare to compete in the Clearfield Tournament.
Tyrone 38 Clearfield 35
Score by quarters:
Tyrone 4 12 14 8 – 38
Clearfield 10 4 9 12 – 35
Scorers: Gehret 12, Dane 10, Bradley 8, McCaulley 4, Harris 2, Peterman 2.
In the preliminary eighth-grade game, the Tyrone Golden Eagles dropped their third game in a row, but finished the season at a record of 19-3.
The Eagles were down 12-8 at the end of one quarter, but toughened up their defense in the second period to take a 17-15 halftime lead.
The Bisons regained the lead in the third period 22-21, and were able to hold the Eagles off in the final period to win 35-26. Nathan Dane had 18 points for Tyrone, including eight-for-eight from the free throw line.
Clearfield 35 Tyrone 26
Score by quarters:
Tyrone 8 9 4 5 – 26
Clearfield 12 3 7 13 – 35
Scorers: Dane 18, Ingle 4, Peterman 3, Shaffer 1.
