Tyrone looked to continue the domination on offense again Wednesday night as they took on a Huntingdon squad that was looking to bounce back from a previous loss on Monday to Central Cambria.
It was an outburst from the start as Tyrone charged out of the gates on an 8-2 run and running the fast break very effectively.
After a Bearcat timeout with 6:14 to go in the first, Hershberger unleashed two three point bombs each time the Bearcats reached within three points to bump Tyrone up- 18-12 with 1:52 to go in the first. It was an offensive battle and Tyrone finished the quarter up 23-16 and commanded the fast break led by Josh Clark and Leonard Wilson.
“I felt we rebounded the ball very well tonight,” coach Mike Harris said. “It allowed us to get out and move the ball down the court after holding them to one shot each time on offense. All the players stepped it up on the boards and got the ball to Josh [Clark], Leonard [Wilson] and Kevin [Hershberger] who took control of the fast break offense.”
As the game rolled on, Clark and Hershberger dominated the offensive strike for Tyrone combining for 26 of Tyrone’s 38 first half points and playing a great role on the defensive side as well.
With 2:44 left in the second quarter, Wilson ripped down a rebound and split three Huntingdon defenders on a full court pass to Hershberger for the easy lay-up. Wilson looked as if he never came off of the football field with a perfect pass to Hershberger.
It was all Josh Clark from two minutes and in as he hit seven of his 12 first half points on two fast break lay-ups and a trey at the buzzer. Tyrone looked as if they were going to swing the door open in the second half with the crowd behind them and Hershberger heating up.
“At the half I told the players to keep pushing the ball and stick to the game plan,” Harris said. “Huntingdon made a couple of baskets to keep the score close and got a couple of offensive rebounds here and there, but we were right in their face when they hit a couple of their long shots early in the first half. We were 0-9 in the first half, if we make 6-9 we’re up 17 at the half instead of 11, but we work on foul shooting everyday and tonight was just a bad night at the line. We can only improve and get better from the line in upcoming games.”
Kevin Hershberger picked up from where he left off as he came out and hit a three point field goal to get the Eagles started on offense. No more than two minutes later
Hershberger was at it again hitting two more treys giving him five for the game and Tyrone a 53-32 lead with just 3:21 remaining in the third quarter.
After a timeout from coach Harris, Tyrone came out and scored the next four points completing a 19-5 run with 2:34 to go. The lead was big, 57-32 and Hershberger had 23 points, but he wasn’t finished yet. With 1:42 to go, Hershberger tied the school record of six threes in a game on a beautiful shot from the top of the key and sparking the Eagles bench as they jumped up and down.
“It’s very nice to break a record,” Hershberger said, “and they kept leaving me open all game long. I was lucky enough to get the shots I wanted and made sure they counted when I got them. I really didn’t want to rush any of my shots because when I rush my shot I get out of a rhythm and it would of hurt our attack on the fast break if I kept pulling up and forcing shots. In the first seven games I sat out, I was able to work on some things, but I knew that the rest of my teammates were going to get the job done until I was back in the lineup. I thought we did a really good job running the floor, rebounding and played really good defense as a team tonight.”
After a 28-13 route in the third quarter led by Hershberger with 28 points, the Eagles looked to put the icing on the cake going into the fourth up 66-40.
“Defensively we played really well tonight,” Harris said, “and in the third quarter we really blasted them away 28-13 and put them out of the game. I was really pleased the way we played, especially the third quarter.”
The fourth quarter was basically bench minutes for Tyrone being up 66-40, it really didn’t seem too harsh to let the jayvee players get in, but Hershberger still needed just one more three pointer to break the school record, having six triples going into the fourth.
At 5:26, Hershberger received a pass from Shane Barr and was left wide open to hit his seventh three point field goal of the game. The bench went crazy experiencing another record broken in school history for three point field goals in a game.
Kevin Hershberger surprised the crowd with some outside shooting Wednesday night as he drained seven three point field goals, breaking the previous record of six in one game set last year by Nick Cushion. It was a great moment to see a former teammate put himself past a record that was set by yours truly.
Hershberger had a total of just six three pointers coming into the game, and unleashed four triples in the third quarter alone.
As the game came to its climax, Tyrone won by a score of 77-58, hitting 10 three-pointers in the win over Huntingdon Wednesday night.
With Kevin Hershberger leading the way, Tyrone can look forward to much more exciting games from the senior. Tyrone is now 13-7(8-4) led by Hershberger with 28 points and seven three point field goals. Josh Clark was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures scoring all of his 12 points in the first half alone. Tad Chamberlain ripped down 13 boards and scored eight points as well, dominating the post.
“We’re going to take the same intensity into Bald Eagle Area Friday night,” Harris said. “We played all man to man tonight which was really affective tonight. The guys are really starting to buy in on what was going on and knowing where they’re supposed to be. It’s really paying off and against Bald Eagle we’re going to come out with the same intensity and hopefully get it done on the road.”
Tyrone plays at Bald Eagle Area Friday night at 7:30 in a big MAC game.
Huntingdon falls to 6-15(5-7) overall despite 15 from Joey Covell and 14 from Matt Young.
Tyrone 77 Huntingdon 58
Huntingdon – K. Kyper 2 0-0 4, Spayd 1 1-1 3, Young 7 0-0 14, Cressman 0 0-1 0, Covell 5 5-7 15, Shuck 3 0-0 9, Speck 4 1-2 9, Kocik 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 7-11 58.
Tyrone – Wilson 2 0-0 4, Crabtree 2 0-4 4, Hershberger 12 0-0 31, Chamberlain 4 0-4 8, Clark 5 0-0 12, Corle 3 0-1 6, Haney 3 0-0 6, Barr 0 0-2 0, Kost 1 0-0 3, Brockett 0 2-2 2, Morrow 0 1-2 1. Totals 32 3-15 77.
Score by Quarters
Huntingdon 16 11 13 18 – 58.
Tyrone 23 15 28 11 – 77.
Three point field goals: Huntingdon-3 (Shuck-3).
Tyrone-10 (Hershberger-7, Clark-2, Kost).
Catich and Kost lead Tyrone jayvee in high scoring battle with Huntingdon
Tyrone fought hard for the big win against Huntingdon and ran away with it in the second half. Only up 32-29 at half time, Tyrone took command in the fourth quarter going on a 7-0 run to put them up 60-49 with 3:00 to go in the game.
Tyrone would cruise on from their winning 67-61 at home against Huntingdon.
The Eagles improve their record to 9-5 with the win behind 14 points from Steve Catich and Byron Kost. They were tough on offense being unstoppable when they had the ball in their hands. Shane Barr threw in 11 as well to help Tyrone ensure the win.
Huntingdon’s Andy Young scored 23 for the Bearcats.
Tyrone 67 Huntingdon 61
Huntingdon – Cunningham 3 0-0 8, Long 5 0-0 12, Morelli 1 0-0 2, Buza 1 0-0 3, Cressman 6 1-2 13, Young 11 0-2 23. Totals 23 1-4 61
Tyrone – Barr 5 0-1 11, Kost 5 1-2 14, Brockett 0 1-2 1, Catich 6 2-4 14, Morrow 3 1-7 7, Branstetter 2 2-4 6, Levinson 3 3-4 9, Golden 0 1-2 5. Totals 24 11-26 67.
Score by Quarters
Huntingdon 10 19 12 20 – 61
Tyrone 16 16 13 22 – 67
Three point goals: Huntingdon-6 (Cunningham-2, Long-2, Buza, Young).
Tyrone-4 (Kost-3, Barr).
