A game that was a chance for Bishop Guilfoyle to get back at Tyrone for the two regular season losses earlier in the year. Revenge was what they wanted, that’s what they got. The 11th seeded Marauders (10-16) handed the Eagles (16-9) their walking papers out of the District VI-AA basketball playoffs with a 59-52 triumph. Tyrone had defeated BG 62-57 at Bishop Guilfoyle on Jan. 8, and then again at Tyrone two and half weeks later 39-36.
The game just seemed to switch roles as Bishop Guilfoyle just completely controlled the tempo of the game and played smart basketball on the offensive strike.
The first quarter said it all for Tyrone, trailing 19-6 and having the worst time containing the outside shot as BG knocked down four three pointers from Sean McConnell and Kyle Kresge combined.
It was a large deficit in the first, but Tyrone was capable of a comeback, being down in several games that they have won during the season.
“I thought we could come back,” coach Mike Harris stated. “We have come back before going back to the Bellefonte game we were down 17 at one point and took the lead late in the game. The problem was that we expanded all of our energy to get back in the game, but when you get back into the game we were too tired to get over the top.”
It was hard for Tyrone to get any type of run started as the Marauders would run their extended motion offense that took almost a minute per possession in the second quarter. The Marauders answered shot for shot in the second quarter except three, which gave Tyrone little room to come back.
At the half, Tyrone trailed, 27-17, despite nine points from Tad Chamberlain who played a tough game in the post, scrapping rebounds and putting back key points to keep them within a reasonable deficit.
Tyrone looked to get back into the game, down 10 at the half, they needed a run and fast.
Coming out strong in the third quarter, Tyrone started out on a 7-2 run that was quickly shut down by BG as they answered back with an 11-2 run to end the third.
Chamberlain scored all but two of Tyrone’s nine points in the third quarter, well below Tyrone’s average on the season. It seemed as if they lost composure in the third quarter, missing shots and allowing Tom Seasoltz to spark the Marauders back with a couple of trey’s.
Down 40-26 after three quarters, the heavily favored Tyrone team was being shut down on offense, and had only eight minutes to jump back in the game. It was up to the leaders of the team to take control and get themselves back ahead in the game.
“I thought we were the favorite tonight,” Harris said. “It was disappointing to see our guys work on everything at practice for this game. They came out nervous and they had no right to be nervous.”
The fourth quarter looked to be over as Bishop Guilfoyle jumped out to a 16 point lead, 47-31, with 5:02 to go in the game. Tyrone was well behind and was having trouble on offense most of the game, anyway.
After a timeout from BG, Tyrone came out on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 47-39 with just under three minutes to go in the game. It seemed out of the picture to see Tyrone come back, but they were well on their way behind Kevin Hershberger and Tad Chamberlain, leading the attack.
Byron Kost and Adam Corle were sent into the game for last minute firing, and they did just that. After two deep bombs from the players, Tyrone was down 54-49 with 43 seconds left in the game. The fans from Tyrone were suddenly back in the game after seeing all of the Marauder fans start to leave the game.
With no timeouts for either side, Tyrone needed a lot of quick baskets and some missed foul shots from BG. The only problem for Tyrone was that the Marauders missed only one foul shot going into the fourth quarter.
As Tyrone missed a couple of key possessions to cut into the lead, Bishop Guilfoyle sunk clutch free throws to end Tyrone’s chance of advancing into the next round of playoffs.
BG defeated Tyrone 59-52 in an upset blunder that crunched Tyrone’s heart on a great season.
“I’ve been in Tyrone for four years now,” Harris said, “and we have been to the playoffs in three out of four seasons. We have higher expectations at Tyrone and we need to work on getting a lead in big games like this one tonight. Having these four seniors were a part of the first group that we brought up in ninth grade, and they have given every single thing they had to the program. They worked hard in every off-season workout, came to everything that the coaching staff asked. It was a pleasure to coach these guys and the players that are still in the program have to use the seniors’ work ethic, hard work and determination during next years off-season. Seasons always end on a loss, unless you win states and in basketball you have to win states or you will come out losing and going home. I feel so bad for the players because they worked hard to get where they are and we have to get back to the hard work in the off-season for the upcoming players.”
Tyrone finished the year 16-9 overall in the loss to Bishop Guilfoyle, Friday night.
It was a tough loss to handle, having the first round bye and a week to work on their game. It was a shocker in Hollidaysburg, and for the seniors of Tyrone, we wish you the best of luck.
Tad Chamberlain and Kevin Hershberger led Tyrone with 18 from Chamberlain and 12 from Hershberger. They played their final game of the season and career on Friday night. Justin Wilson, Josh Crabtree and Jason Haney also played their final games as a Tyrone Golden Eagle and have their career ahead of them to work on now.
Bishop Guilfoyle advances in the playoffs on their big win over Tyrone. Led by Sean McConnell and Tom Seasoltz, the Marauders shut down the powerful offense of Tyrone for the most part of the game and hit 24-27 from the foul line that was key in the end of the game. McConnell lit up 19 points along with 15 from Seasoltz.
Bishop Guilfoyle 59 Tyrone 52
Bishop Guilfoyle – McConnell 5 7-8 19, Kresge 2 4-4 10, Meyers 3 1-1 7, Curtis 1 6-7 8, Seasoltz 3 6-7 15. Totals 14 24-27 59.
Tyrone – Wilson 2 1-2 5, Crabtree 2 0-0 4, Hershberger 4 3-4 12, Chamberlain 7 4-6 18, Corle 3 3-4 10, Kost 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 11-16 52.
Score by Quarters
Bishop Guilfoyle 19 8 13 19 – 59
Tyrone 6 11 9 26 – 52
Three point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle-7 (Seasoltz-3, Kresge-2, McConnell-2).
Tyrone-3 (Kost, Hershberger, Corle).
