Bellefonte and Tyrone both had the same kinds of opportunities last night in the second quarter of their Mountain Athletic Conference Section II game in Tyrone.
Both were able to relatively limit their turnovers and both had plenty of looks at the basket – some at close range, some from outside, some in transition, some on offensive rebounds. The Lady Eagles attempted 17 shots, the Lady Raiders shot 16.
The difference came in what the teams were able to do with their opportunities. By halftime, Bellefonte had built a 32-10 lead because it converted on 10 of its 16 shots, at one point making eight of nine, to blow open what had been a three-point game after the first quarter. Tyrone, meanwhile, went just 1 for 17, once again showing an inability to put the ball in the basket that has plagued the team through its first 15 games.
The 11-3 Lady Raiders went on to win 54-37 to start second cycle play in the MAC 1-0. Tyrone dipped to 6-9 (0-1 MAC), while failing to reach 40 points for the fifth time this season.
“We had some open looks,” said Tyrone coach Jim Swaney, who is only two wins away from reaching career win No. 250. “But things have a tendency to snowball on you. All year long, we’ve been a good defensive team, but when our offense started going haywire in the second quarter, we didn’t get back on defense and we let them get all over us on the offensive glass.”
Bellefonte scored eight of its 21 second-quarter points off of offensive put-backs, but the real problem for the Lady Eagles was containing Bellefonte’s Kristin Irwin, a four-year starter who at 5-11 demonstrated her versatility in scoring on the interior and with an accurate jumper. She scored nine of her 12 points in the first half, and later added a buzzer-beating three-pointer from beyond half-court to end the third quarter.
“In four years of playing against her, that first half was as aggressive as I have ever seen Irwin play,” said Swaney.
Irwin was one of three Lady Raiders to score in double figures. Missy Clouser, a 6-foot sophomore who pummeled Tyrone in December with 20 points in an eight-point win in Bellefonte, overcame a slow and sloppy start to match Irwin’s 12. Freshman Angie Proper also chipped in 12, with eight coming in the second half.
Hilary McNelis led Tyrone with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Playing without starter Emily Lloyd, a junior who is out with a nose injury sustained last Friday against Philipsburg-Osceola, Tyrone played close with the Lady Raiders early and trailed 11-8 after the first quarter.
But things got out of control quickly in the second as the Lady Eagles missed their first seven shots from the floor. Sophomore Liz Tepsic ended the drought with a lay-up at the 3:54 mark, but it would be the last basket Tyrone would get until Emily McKenna made a shot 1:28 into the third quarter.
McKenna, McNelis and Stefani Bryan combined to score the first six points of the second half as the Lady Eagles made it 34-16 and threatened to begin the long climb back into the game, but Bellefonte, unaffected by Tyrone’s 2-1-2 press, methodically went about its business, and by the time Irwin made her three-quarter-court shot the Lady Raiders had their biggest lead of the game (48-23).
HOOP NOTES: Tyrone travels to Dubois for a non-league game tonight … Bryan made her first varsity start in place of Lloyd … Bellefonte has now won five of its last six games … Tyrone finished 15 for 60 from the field (25 percent), while Bellefonte went 25 for 53 (47 percent).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone trailed the Lady Raiders by nine after the first quarter before rallying to pull within 21-18 to start the fourth quarter. But the Lady Eagles could never completely overcome their slow start in a 29-23 loss.
Lindsey Christine topped Tyrone with seven points.
VARSITY
Bellefonte 54 Tyrone 37
BELLEFONTE – Irwin 5 1-2 12; Kolos 3 0-0 6; Clouser 6 0-2 12; C. Proper 2 2-4 6; Lucas 2 0-1 4; A. Proper 6 0-0 12; Stewart 0 0-0 0; Fromm 0 0-0 0; Port 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 25 3-9 54.
TYRONE – McKenna 3 2-4 8; Ingle 2 0-1 4; McNelis 6 1-3 13; Hoover 0 2-2 2; Bryan 2 1-2 5; Roth 0 0-0 0; Turner 1 1-2 3; Long 0 0-0 0; Bradford 1 0-2 2. TOTALS: 15 7-16 37.
Score by Quarters
BELLEFONTE 11 21 16 6 – 54
TYRONE 8 2 13 14 – 37
THREE-POINT GOALS: Bellefonte 1 (Irwin 1)
JUNIOR VARSITY
Bellefonte 29 Tyrone 23
BELLEFONTE – Benner 0 0-0 0; Stewart 2 0-0 4; Port 6 3-3 15; Masters 0 0-0 0; Fromm 1 0-0 2; Story 2 2-2 6; Waite 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 12 5-5 29
TYRONE – Tepsic 2 1-2 5; Turiano 2 0-0 4; Garbinsky 0 0-0 0; Long 2 0-0 4; Christine 3 1-2 7; Russell 0 0-0 0; Walker 0 0-0 0; Corle 1 1-4 3; Bartlebaugh 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10 3-8 23
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BELLEFONTE 13 4 4 8 – 29
TYRONE 4 3 11 5 – 23.
