The last time the Tyrone Junior High boys basketball team met Huntingdon, they were just coming off the holiday break, and struggling early on the road, they pulled away from the Bearcats late in the game to win their third straight 33-22 and raise their season record to 4-2. Wednesday, the Eagles showed they still have the edge on the Bearcats.
Again, struggling early against the Huntingdon press, Tyrone could only manage a two-point halftime lead. But they shut down the Bearcats in the fourth quarter, and pulled away yet again for their 11th straight win.
Huntingdon took an early lead in the first quarter by nailing a three-pointer. After that, both teams traded baskets. Chris McCaulley played strong in the post, scoring three times down low, and lifted the Eagles past the Bearcats. They took a lead of 9-6, despite the pressure from Huntingdon’s 2-1-2 full-court press.
In the second quarter, it looked as though Tyrone was starting to build momentum. But with a 16-10 lead and under a minute to go, Huntingdon forced two turnovers off a steal and an intercepted pass. They converted both of these opportunities into layups, and got back within two, 16-14, by the halftime buzzer. Nine first-half points by McCaulley kept the Eagles on top.
The third quarter featured a struggle between these two teams about who wanted this game most. Huntingdon opened the second half with a three-point play to go into the lead 17-16. But Chris McCaulley stepped up again by hitting both ends of a one-and-one off a foul from a rebound, and then by scoring a layup off a pass from Jon Hampton at 3:48. That 20-17 lead was quickly reduced to 20-19 by a Huntingdon layup, and Ethan Etters came off the bench to give the Eagles some extra energy. He came through with a steal and a layup, and McCaulley got another basket down low with under 45 seconds left to make it 24-19. One free throw by Huntingdon completed the third quarter at Tyrone 24 Huntingdon 20.
With 4:48 left in the game, Josh Bradley grabbed a rebound and went end-to-end to make a layup, and at 3:07, the Bearcats called a timeout to regroup. But Josh Bradley wasn’t done as he won the fight for a long rebound, made the layup as he was fouled, and hit the free throw to put the Eagles up 29-20. With under two minutes to play, Huntingdon was forced to put Tyrone on the free throw line, and Brandon Gehret made them pay by making three of four free throws at 1:36 and 1:22. McCaulley finished the scoring with one more low post shot to make the final score 34-20. The Eagles had shut out Huntingdon in the fourth quarter.
Chris McCaulley had his best game of the season, with 17 points, to lead the Eagles to their 11th straight win and raise their season record to 12-2. Josh Bradley added 11.
On Friday, the Eagles will travel to Bald Eagle Area.
Score by quarters:
Tyrone 9 7 8 10 – 34
Huntingdon 6 8 6 0 – 20
Scorers: McCaulley 17, Bradley 11, Gehret 4, Etters 2
In the prelim eighth-grade game, the Eagles raised their record to 13-0 as they ran past the Bearcats with 19-2 and 4-0 first and second quarters to take a 23-2 halftime lead, and then coasted to a 36-6 final victory. Travis Peterman hit a pair of three-pointers on his way to leading Tyrone with 10 points. Nate Dane and Ethans Etters each had six.
Score by quarters:
Tyrone 19 4 3 10 – 36
Huntingdon 2 0 0 4 – 6
Scorers: Peterman 10, Etters 6, Dane 6, Updyke 5, Shaffer 2, Black 2, Hennaman 2, Lynn 2, Young 1.
