After defeating the Panthers in the two teams’ first contest, the Tyrone Golden Eagles hoped to duplicate the upset in Monday’s game at Penn Cambria. This time however, the Panthers were ready for the upset minded Eagles, defeating the visitors 61-44 on Senior Night.
“There’ a lot of things we can learn from tonight,” commented Tyrone Head Coach Mike Harris after his team’s loss to the now 17-4 Panthers. “We’re going to get better, this loss will make us better in the long run.”
Initially things looked good for the Golden Eagles, as the visitors started the game with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of the contest. Ben Gummo started the scoring one minute into the opening quarter, with Tyler Mertiff nailing a jumper over a defender to silence the loud home town crowd. Brady Hoover added two more a minute later and Tyrone was up early.
This would be the Golden Eagles’ first and only lead of the contest, however. Penn Cambria responded with a 19-6 run throughout the remaining five minutes of the first quarter, beginning and ending the run with a three pointer. The Panthers continued the offensive pressure, outscoring the Golden Eagles 8-4 in the first three minutes of the second quarter to increase their lead to 11.
However, Tyrone fought back, reducing the deficit to four with a 7-0 run in which each field goal resulted from hustle and determination. Dan Dominick kicked off the run by putting back his own miss for two, and then a five man scrum ensued for possession of a rebound. Mike Ashcroft finally hauled in the loose ball as it popped out of the fray, and nailed a jumper to bring Tyrone within six. Dominick knocked the ball away from a Panther player on the next possession, then fed the ball to Hoover on the other end. Hoover’s bucket and a Mertiff free throw brought the Eagles back into range, but Penn Cambria kept coming on strong. Just when the Tyrone faithful thought their Eagles were had made some headway, the Panthers nailed a three pointer and then a short field goal to go into the locker room up seven.
After the break the action slowed, as the two teams only amassed a combined six points in the first half of the third quarter. Fortunately for Tyrone, they were responsible for five of those points, and had made their way into striking distance 30-33. Penn Cambria hit four field goals in the next two minutes, but Tyrone was able to keep the margin at three by converting two three point plays and a basket from Dominick. The Panthers showed their offensive power in the quarter’s final minute, however, connecting on two three’s in half a minute to take a ten point lead into the final quarter.
And Penn Cambria kept on rolling. The Panthers nailed a three only 15 seconds into the final quarter of play, which started a 13-6 period that sealed the deal for the home team.
“We’re in the exact same spot we were last year,” stated Harris. “Our goal is to win a District Six Championship. Last year at this time we had the exact same record, ten and nine. We’re not playing bad. We’re working hard. We just need to keep working hard and get better.”
In his first game back from injury, Hoover led the Eagles with 15 points, and also hauled in 10 rebounds on a tender ankle.
“He was a little tentative out there,” said Harris on Hoover’s comeback from an ankle injury. “They went to a box and one out there, and it was hard getting him the ball inside.”
Quintin Dziabo led the way to victory for the Panthers, giving Penn Cambria the inside presence it needed to be a threat from outside. Dziabo led all scorers with 20 points, and also grabbed six boards for the Panthers.
With the loss, Tyrone drops to 10-9, with their next action at Bellefonte on Friday night.
The Golden Eagle junior varsity team also had trouble in their contest with the Panthers, as the Penn Cambria jayvees were victorious 61-52. Kevin Hershberger led Tyrone with 10 points, while Shane Gherrity added nine and Nick Cushion chipped in eight. Three jayvee Panthers reached double digit scoring in the contest, with Mack Biady totaling 17, Jason Noga reaching 14, and Joe Scantori tallying 10.
Penn Cambria 61 Tyrone 44
Individual Scoring
TYRONE- Mertiff 2 3-4 7, Gummo 4 1-1 9, Ashcroft 1 0-0 2, Dominick 3 0-0 6, Wilson 2 1-2 5, Hoover 5 5-6 15, Cushion 0 0-0 0, Gherrity 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 10-13 44.
Penn Cambria- Dongell 2 0-0 4, Bernazeli 0 0-0 0, Choros 3 1-2 9, McCoy 8 0-0 19, Lapcznski 1 0-0 3, Butler 0 0-0 0, Tomaselli 1 2-2 4, Dziabo 9 1-1 20, Biller 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 25 4-5 61.
Score by Quarter
Tyrone- 12 13 13 6 – 44
Penn Cambria 19 13 16 13 – 61
Three-point goals: Tyrone 0; Penn Cambria 7 (McCoy 3, Choros 2, Dziabo 1, Lapcznski)
