With starter Dusty Border on the bench with an injury, Huntingdon boys basketball coach Keith Black went to senior Robbie Barclay as a replacement. It paid off as Barclay scored 15 points to help the Bearcats to a 62-44 victory over visiting Tyrone Friday evening.
The Bearcats are now 8-8 for the season and 1-1 in the MAC-Division II second cycle. Huntingdon won a 62-51 decision at Tyrone back on Jan. 5. The Golden Eagles fall to 5-10 overall and to 0-2 in the league.
“A coach worries about not having a player like Border in the lineup,” said Black. “But Robbie did a good job. He shot well and showed good patience.”
Barclay made the first shot of the game — a three-pointer from the left wing — then Tyrone answered with a pair of short jumpers by Kevin Hershberger and took a 4-3 lead. Geoff Kozak hit a trey with 4:23 left to put the Bearcats up 6-3 and they never trailed again.
Kozak scored five in the opening period and Matt Young added four for the Bearcats.
Kozak lit things up in the second round, hitting three treys for nine points. Tyrone’s Nick Cushion opened the period with a three-pointer at the 6:52 mark, but Huntingdon scored the next 16 in a row. The Eagles finished on a shot by Doug Morrow with 15 seconds left, but trailed 30-14 at intermission.
Barclay took over in the third period, scoring the first seven points for the Bearcats, who opened up a 37-18 lead. He hit a trey with just two seconds left to give Huntingdon a 46-21 lead at the buzzer.
Barclay hit a fastbreak layup to open the final period as Huntingdon built a 57-30 lead with 4:07 to play before clearing the bench.
The Eagles outscored the Bearcats 14-5 over the last four minutes to set the final score.
“The was a great team effort,” Black stated. “We shared the ball, made the extra pass and helped each other out. It was the most complete game we’ve played this season.
“Geoff (Kozak) also had a great game at both ends. He had assists, steals and rebounds to go with his points.”
Kozak led all scorers with 20 points and added 14 rebounds in the contest. Barclay finished with 15 and Young had 13 as Huntingdon canned 25 of 57 (44 percent). The Bearcats also committed just six turnovers.
For the Eagles, Hershberger was the only shooter in double figures, finishing with 12. Tyrone connected on 19 of 50 shots (38 percent) and owned a slim 32-29 edge in rebounding.
Junior Varsity
In the junior varsity contest, Joey Covell scored 19 and Kyle Kyper 15, but Huntingdon (7-6) lost a 61-54 decision to the Eagles.
The Eagles play a pair of Mountain League games next week at home hosting Bellefonte on Wednesday and Bishop Guilfoyle on Friday. Both evenings will begin with the junior varsity contest set for 6 p.m. and the varsity game to follow at 7:30.
Huntingdon 62 Tyrone 52
TYRONE (44) L Wilson 0 1-2 1; Hershberger 6 0-0 12; Cushion 2 0-0 5; Hoover 2 2-2 6; Crabtree 0 0-2 0; Chamberlain 1 0-0 2; Corle 2 0-0 5; Haney 2 0-0 4; J. Wilson 0 0-0 0; Clark 1 0-0 3; Brockett 0 0-0 0; Morrow 3 0-0 6. Totals: 19 3-6 44.
HUNTINGDON (62) Kozak 9 0-0 20; Morelli 2 0-0 4; Stidd 0 0-0 0; Young 5 2-3 13; Barclay 6 0-0 15; Covell 0 0-0 0; Reed 1 0-0 2; K. Kyper 0 0-0 0; Gutshall 1 0-0 2; M. Kyper 0 0-0 0; Speck 2 2-2 6. Totals: 25 4-5 62.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 9 5 7 23 — 44
Huntingdon 14 16 16 16 — 62
Three Point Goals: Tyrone 3 (Cushion 1, Corle 1, Clark 1).
Huntingdon 8 (Kozak 4, Young 1, Barclay 3).
