Tuesday night, Tad Chamberlain put on one of the best performances of his career against Philipsburg as he completely took control of the game for the Eagles. Scoring 11 of his game high 21 in the first quarter, the Eagles looked to get him the ball for the rest of the game. Tyrone relied on his rebounding and great post play on offense to win the contest 71-53.
“Tad played pretty well tonight,” coach George Gripp remarked. “He did a great job defending J.D. Mason for the most part. Mason really hurt us at Philipsburg, but Chamberlain contained him down low which was a big key to the game.”
Tyrone controlled the tempo of the game early going starting the game on an 8-0 run that pushed the Mounties into a quick timeout less than a minute into the game.
Chamberlain went on a tear after the short run from the Eagles as he scored the next three buckets and two more at the end to give him 11 points and Tyrone a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Tyrone’s momentum carried them through the half as they were answered any run Philipsburg would have in the second quarter as Tyrone remained well ahead at the half, 36-20.
Philipsburg’s Lou LaFuria, a starting senior, did not get into the basketball game until late in the second quarter. This seemed to be a turning point for Tyrone as Philipsburg’s gunner was on the bench mainly the entire half.
“We heard before the game that he wasn’t going to play until after the half,” Gripp stated. “We know what he means to that team and their kids really look up to him, so when he was out of the game we wanted to run man and double the ball. They had three players, one a ninth grade kid, that seemed to have some trouble handling the ball so we wanted to get out and get after them on defense when LaFuria was out of the game.”
At the half, Chamberlain and Leonard Wilson led Tyrone combined for 23 of the Eagle’s 36 half time points. They were the leaders on the offensive strike and continued performing well in the second half.
Philipsburg’s Miles Fenton led the way for the Mounties scoring three trey’s with a couple of foul shots to give him 11 at the break.
With the lead, Tyrone looked to continue to dominate the Mounties in the post by feeding the rock to Chamberlain. He’s a well respected post player in the MAC and showed his scoring skills as well as on the defensive side, tearing down several rebounds.
In the third quarter, Tyrone started out sloppy allowing Philipsburg to capture an 8-0 run that cut the lead to 42-31, but Tyrone came running back with 11 to crush the comeback of the Mounties going into the fourth up 53-31.
Philipsburg came out on another 8-0 run in the fourth, as Miles Fenton hit his fifth three point field goal of the night just thirty seconds into the fourth quarter. They looked to start a comeback, but Tyrone answered their run once again with eight points of their own taking a 61-41 lead with just 4:11 to go in the game.
With J.D. Mason held to three points in three quarters of play, Tyrone played to the extreme on defense as he nailed 21 against Tyrone in the previous meeting.
“We gave him a couple different looks,” Gripp said. “We had Chamberlain on him a couple of times, then [Josh] Crabtree switched and covered him just to give him a different look. Tad would take him down low and beat him up a little bit and Crabtree would take him outside and force him to dribble around him. I think they handled him well tonight.”
As the game ran to its conclusion, Tyrone substituted in the rest of the lineup to give them some experience in the big games with 3:00 to go in the game. It was a 63-42 lead when they went in, and Byron Kost hit four of the final eight points to seal the win for Tyrone as they won it big 71-50.
The game didn’t end just like that, however. Justin Wilson was fouled at the end of the game, which sent him to the free throw line to shoot one-and-one. An emotional time for the team and the crowd to see him enter the game after recovering from a serious car accident during the summer. Lucky to be alive, Justin Wilson nailed both free throws as the crowd roared with cheers for the senior. A happy ending to a big win, Wilson walked off the court with the players, fans and coaches all very proud to see him score those last points in the game.
Tad Chamberlain led the Eagles with 21 points along with 14 from Leonard Wilson. They were two tough players on offense as they took the ball hard to the basket and made defenders aware that they were coming to the hoop strong. They were 9-12 from the foul line combined.(Tyrone is now 14-8 overall and 9-5 in the conference.)
Miles Fenton seemed to be the only Mountie on fire Tuesday night as he hit five triples and scored 19 points in the loss against Tyrone (Philipsburg drops to 6-17 and 2-13 in the conference.).
Tyrone 71 Philipsburg-Osceola 50
Philipsburg-Osceola – Curtis 0 1-2 1, Laird 3 0-0 6, Supko 1 0-2 2, Mason 4 3-6 11, Fenton 6 2-2 19, LaFuria 1 4-6 6, Washic 0 1-2 1, Mills 2 0-2 4. Totals 17 11-24 50.
Tyrone – L. Wilson 5 4-6 14, Crabtree 1 2-4 4, Hershberger 4 0-0 9, Chamberlain 8 5-6 21, Clark 5 0-0 10, Corle 1 1-2 3, Haney 2 0-0 4, J. Wilson 0 2-2 2. Totals 27 14-20 71.
Score by Quarters
Philipsburg-Osceola 10 10 11 19 – 50
Tyrone 20 16 17 18 – 71
Three point goals: Philipsburg-Osceola-5 (Fenton-5).
Tyrone-1 (Hershberger).
Kost carries Eagles in jayvee action
Byron Kost completely took over the game in Tuesday’s action against Philipsburg, scoring 16 points in the win. He has been a dominate force for the jayvee’s and has picked up key roles in the varsity games as a three point gunner in the time needed.
Tyrone went on to win 52-23, as they held the Mounties under double digits in each of the four quarters.
Tyrone 52 Philipsburg-Osceola 23
Tyrone – Catich 3 1-2 7, Barr 1 0-0 2, Kost 7 0-0 16, Brockett 1 0-0 2, Morrow 5 0-0 10, Levinson 1 0-0 2
Branstetter 2 0-0 4, Golden 4 0-0 9. Totals 24 1-2 52.
PO – Whitman 0 1-2 1, Miles 5 0-4 10, Bunyak 2 2-2 6, Husar 2 2-4 6. Totals 9 5-12 23.
Score by Quarters
Philipsburg-Osceola 6 5 8 4 – 23
Tyrone 12 11 16 13 – 52
Three point goals: P-O none
Tyrone-2 (Kost-2).
