No team has ever had the number of the Tyrone Lady Eagles like the Lewistown Lady Panthers.
Following last night’s 57-43 loss to Lewistown at the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium, Tyrone had lost 20 in a row to the Lady Panthers dating back to a 73-62 win in February of 1994.
In that span of time there have been blowout losses, near misses, playoff disappointments and overtime buzzer-beaters.
But there has been little satisfaction for the Lady Eagles.
Last night, Tyrone limited Lewistown – a team averaging nearly 72 points per game – to its lowest point total of the season. But the Lady Panthers’ scoring balance and defensive pressure were the difference in Lewistown’s 14-point Mountain League victory.
The win hiked Lewistown’s record to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the league with a game against Bishop Guilfoyle in Mifflin County slated for Friday. Tyrone’s record evened at 3-3 and 2-2 in the conference.
The loss snapped a two-game Tyrone winning streak with Bald Eagle Area visiting Tyrone Friday.
Senior Joanna Turner continued her consistent play, scoring 16 points to go along with nine rebounds and Marie DelBaggio remained on her hot strea netting 11.
The duo’s performance – which accounted for 62 percent of Tyrone’s offensive production – was offset by the Lady Panthers’ balance. Alicia Espigh led Lewistown with a game-high 18 points, Maddie Runk scored 12, Andrea Kauffman chipped in 10 and Jenny Cunningham tacked on 11 to go with a game-high 15 boards.
Tyrone played close to the Lady Panthers through the first period and into the second. The game was knotted 13-13 after one and Lewistown held a one-point edge with under four minutes to go in the first half (21-20). An 8-0 run put Lewistown up 28-20 at halftime.
Lewistown led 45-32 heading into the fourth quarter and Tyrone got the margin under 10 (49-41) with two minutes left in the game, but a strong showing at the foul line – Lewistown was 21-of-26 at the stripe on the night – allowed the Lady Panthers to pull away.
HOOP NOTES: Marie DelBaggio is averaging 12.3 points per game over her last three games … Lewistown’s 57 points were a high for opposing teams against Tyrone this season … Lewistown made just one more field goal than Tyrone but got to the line 14 more times than the Lady Eagles.
Lewistown 57 Tyrone 43
LEWISTOWN – Runk 5 4-5 14, Espigh 5 6-7 18, Kauffman 3 4-4 10, Knable 0 2-2 2, Cunningham 3 3-4 11, Craig 0 1-2 1, Gherrett 0 1-2 1, Stauffer 0 0-0 0, Searer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 21-26 57.
TYRONE – M. DelBaggio 3 1-2 11, A. DelBaggio 1 0-0 2, Haag 1 0-0 3, McNelis 3 0-3 6, Turner 6 4-7 16, McKenna 2 0-0 5, Bryan 0 0-0 0, Wallace 0 0-0 0, TOTALS 16 5-12 43.
Score by Quarters
Lewistown 13 15 17 12 – 57
Tyrone 13 8 11 11 – 43
Three-point goals Lewistown 2 (Espigh 2); Tyrone 4 (M. DelBaggio 2, Haag 1, Mckenna 1)
