The Tyrone Lady Eagle basketball team showed Tuesday night the value of a couple days off and a little bit of confidence.
The Lady Eagles hadn’t played since Saturday’s humiliating loss at Bishop Guilfoyle – a game that saw Tyrone go scoreless for nine minutes in the first half – but they showed no ill-effects from the fiasco in their 56-37 win over Huntingdon. Instead, they played like a team with a lot of confidence.
Tyrone ran its offense with purpose and precision and attacked the Lady Bearcats from all angles with their half-court pressure. It was enough to put the game out of reach by the middle of the third quarter and earn Tyrone’s starters a break for most of the fourth.
The Lady Eagles improved to 9-7 on the season and 1-1 in the Mountain League second cycle. Huntingdon dropped to 6-12 and 0-3.
The performance was a relief to Tyrone coach Jim Swaney, who was near the end of his rope after the loss to Guilfoyle, but it also left him wondering.
“I’m not sure if we approach BG and Lewistown the same mentally as we do everyone else,” Swaney. “We don’t have that problem with a team like Indian Valley and that’s a team that is probably equal in talent to those others. We go into games against Indian Valley thinking we can win. That’s something that will always baffle me about this team.”
If the Lady Eagles played with confidence last night, no individual exemplified their sefl-assurance more than Marie DelBaggio. The 6-foot senior scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. She also dotted the top of Tyrone half-court press and came up with seven steals and two assists.
“Marie is definitely raising her level of play,” said Swaney.
Classmate Joanna Turner scored 12 points to go along with 11 boards and Lauren Haag scored 10. Freshman Emily McKenna came through with her finest performance to date, scoring 12 points with two three-pointers and dishing out three assists.
Tyrone trailed 4-3 early in the first quarter but rattled off nine unanswered to take a 12-4 lead on an Amber DelBaggio three-point basket with 3:07 left in the period. Turner scored six straight and McKenna put back a rebound to allow the Lady Eagles to build their lead to 20-9 heading into the second quarter.
Marie DelBaggio and Haag combined on all 10 Tyrone points in the second quarter as the Lady Eagles built a 30-15 halftime lead, but the real damage was done after the break.
Tyrone scored 13 of the first 17 points of the quarter to build a 43-19 lead with under three minutes to go in the third period. The Lady Eagles led 45-21 going into the fourth quarter and began the final frame on a 6-2 run.
“We run our offense really well and get the ball where it needs to go,” said Swaney. “We had 25 field goals tonight but with all of the late substitutions we made only one in the last part of the fourth quarter. So 24 field goals in 3 and a half quarters isn’t bad. “We’re just not a high-powered offensive team, so we have to make up for it at the defensive end.”
HOOP NOTES: Tyrone faces Indian Valley Friday night at home … Linsey Norris led Huntingdon with 12 points while Ashley
Snyder scored 11 … Huntingdon leading scorer and rebounder Rejane Frederick did not play due to injury … Amber DelBaggio dished out seven assists.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone’s junior varsity squad won its second game of the season, defeating Huntingdon 38-36.
The win avenged an overtime loss to the Lady ‘Cats earlier this season.
Ashley Roth led the Lady Eagles with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Ingle scored 10 points and grabbed five boards.
VARSITY
Tyrone 56 Huntingdon 37
TYRONE – M. DelBaggio 8 0-0 16; Turner 5 1-1 12; A. DelBaggio 2 0-0 6; Haag 5 0-0 10; McKenna 5 0-0 12; Roth 0 0-0 0; Bryan 0 0-0 0; Wallace 0 0-0 0; Hoover 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25 1-1 56
3-POINT GOALS: McKenna (2); A. DelBaggio (2), Turner (1)
HUNTINGDON – Norris 4 2-2 12; Snyder 4 0-0 11; Hallahan 2 1-2 5; A. Sheffield 1 2-2 4; Goss 2 6-10 10; Carberry 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 11-16 37
3-POINT GOALS: Norris (2), Snyder (3)
Score By Quarters
TYRONE 20 10 15 11 – 56
HUNTINGDON 9 6 6 16 – 37
JUNIOR VARSITY
TYRONE – Wallace 4 0-0 8; Stanton 2 2-2 6; Hoover 0 3-7 3; Ingle 1 7-10 10; Russell 2 1-2 5; Roth 5 1-6 11; Taylor 0 0-0 0.
TOTALS: 16 14-27 38
3-POINT GOALS: Ingle (1)
HUNTINGDON – J. Sheffield 7 3-3 18; Thompson 2 3-6 7; Hallahan 0 1-2 1; Hurley 2 0-1 4; Grove 1 2-2 4; Carberry 1 0-0 2.
TOTALS: 13 9-14 36
3-POINT GOALS: Sheffield (1)
TYRONE 14 4 13 12 – 38
HUNTINGDON 6 12 10 8 – 36
