For two quarters last night against Philipburg-Osceola, Tyrone posts Marie DelBaggio and Joanna Turner got every wide open look they wanted, and for two quarters the players who account for more than 50 percent of the Lady Eagles’ offense looked like they were shooting at a hoop coated with basketball repellent.
Turner and DelBaggio combined to hit just three of 15 shots from the floor over the first 16 minutes, and that was one of the reasons the Lady Eagles, coming off an embarassing defeat on the road against Bellefonte Tuesday, led the Lady Mounties by just five (21-16) heading into the locker room.
“We ran a decent offense all night,” said Tyrone coach Jim Swaney. “We just didn’t make any shots in the first half. It was frustrating because it felt like we were contolling the flow of the game but we weren’t stretching the lead.”
With some motivation from Swaney, Turner and DelBaggio got to work rectifying the situation quickly once the second half began. They combined on 18 of the Lady Eagles’ 33 second half points and Tyrone was able to pull away for a 54-34 Mountain League victory at Tyrone Area High School.
“If Jo and Marie struggle, we struggle,” said Swaney. “Our offense revolves around them – even our outside shooting – so it’s important that they play well and finish inside.”
The win allowed the Lady Eagles (7-5 overall) to finish the first cycle of Mountain League play above .500 at 4-3. P-O dipped to 6-7 and 2-5.
DelBaggio scored six points in the third quarter and Turner added five as Tyrone built a 12-point lead (39-27) heading into the last frame. There, Tyrone’s man-to-man defense in the half-court was too much for the Lady Mounties to handle. P-O turned the ball over only two times in the quarter, but had every shot challenged and every drive cut off while being held without a field goal until just 1:05 remained in the game.
By then, Tyrone had built a 50-31 lead on the strength of an 11-1 run to start the period. Of those 11, Turner and DelBaggio netted eight.
“We applied much better weakside help in the second half,” said Swaney. “Marissa Hoover deserves some credit for that and our guards applied more pressure and made looks into the post more difficult.”
The Lady Eagles also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Lady Mounties 48-33, led by DelBaggio’s game-high 16. She also added 13 points.
Joanna Turner scored a game-high 15 points to go along with 13 boards, and Amber DelBaggio pulled eight rebounds to go along with 10 points and five assists.
Lauren Haag chipped in 10 points and Hoover, in her first significant varsity action, scored five points to go along with five points and two steals.
The Lady Eagles will play two games out of conference next week before getting back into the second lap around the Mountain League AAA division. On Monday, they travel to Mill Hall for a game against Central Mountain before hosting DuBois on Wednesday.
HOOP NOTES: Along with Hoover, Swaney also played freshman Ashley Roth in the post. He may turn to some inexperienced underclassmen more often over the next few games as sophomore Hilary McNelis – a starter since the first game of the season – is slated to be out for several weeks with a stress fracture in her foot. The absolute best scenario would have her returning in two weeks … Beth Burns and Morgan Ammerman scored 11 points apiece for P-O … P-O’s 34 points marked a new season-low against Tyrone, which is surrendering just 47 points per game.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone’s jayvee team picked up its first win of the season, defeating P-O 47-44 in overtime.
Marissa Hoover led three Lady Eagles in double-figures with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Ashley Roth had 10 points and 11 rebounds and Emily Ingle scored 11 points to go along with four assists and three steals.
The game was tied at 42 near the end of regulation when a long three-pointer by Tania Lewis was waved off at the buzzer, paving the way for the Lady Eagles to outscore P-O 5-2 in the extra frame.
VARSITY
Tyrone 54 Philipsburg-Osceola 34
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – Viehdorfer 1 1-2 4; Straw 0 1-2 1; Burns 5 0-2 11; Ammerman 4 3-6 11; Wilson 1 4-8 7; Albert 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 9-20 34.
3-POINT GOALS: Burns (1), Wilson (1)
TYRONE – M. DelBaggio 3 6-8 13; Turner 5 4-5 15; A.DelBaggio 4 2-5 10; Haag 4 1-2 10; McKenna 0 0-0 0; Bryan 0 0-0 0; Hoover 2 1-1 5; Roth 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 18 15-23 54
3-POINT GOALS: M. DelBaggio (1), Turner (1); Haag (1)
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 7 9 11 7 – -34
TYRONE 10 11 18 15 – 54
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone 47 Philipsburg-Osceola 44
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – Turner 0 0-0 0; Brown 0 0-0 0; Wilson 6 5-7 17; Murphy 0 0-2 0; McCamley 5 2-4 12; Curtis 1 1-2 3; Bush 0 3-4 3; Albert 4 1-2 9. TOTALS: 16 12-21 44
TYRONE – Wallace 0 3-6 3; Stanton 1 2-4 4; Hoover 5 7-14 17; Ingle 3 4-8 11; Roth 4 2-6 10; Russell 1 0-4 2; Taylor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 18-42 47
3-POINT GOALS: Ingle (1)
