If you wonder why most coaches would die to have a guard like Bishop Guilfoyle junior Angela Greaser, it may be best captured in one exchange of last night’s game between the Lady Marauders and Tyrone at Tyrone Area High School gymnasium.
Guilfoyle’s 18-point halftime lead had been shrunk to four at 39-35 on a basket by Hilary McNelis with 6:58 left in the fourth quarter and the Lady Marauders could do nothing to solve the Lady Eagles’ 1-2-2 zone.
That was when Greaser, like only a three-year starter can, clamly brought the ball down court, stopped at the top of the key, and cooly drained a three-pointer that touched nothing but net and built the lead back to 42-35.
Tyrone would get that close only once more, and BG went on to win 55-43 in the Mountain League big school division opener for both teams.
But Tyrone coach Jim Swaney can deal with a player who lives for crunch time rising to the occasion when the game is tight. What he can’t deal with is his own team’s failure to respond in similar fashion through the first 16 minutes of the game.
In their biggest game of the season to date, the Lady Eagles turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, shot just 5 for 23 from the field and played like anything but a team that returned four starters from a season ago.
“Defensively we were awful,” said Swaney, whose team fell to 1-2 on the season. “We played like we were either afraid of them or we didn’t believe we could beat them.”
The second half showed that wasn’t the case. Tyrone limited Guilfoyle (2-2) to just five field goals in the third and fourth quarters, controlled the glass at both ends and outscored the Marauders 27-21.
But an 18-point spot over the first half is too much for almost any to overcome against a team like Guilfoyle.
“It was a horrible effort,” said Swaney. “What we did in the second half was no different from what we were trying to do in the first except in our effort.”
The Lady Eagles fell behind big early thanks to BG senior Erin McGowan, who lit up Tyrone for 15 first-half points, 13 of which came in the first quarter when BG built a 20-10 lead. Guilfoyle pressed after every made basket and Tyrone turned the ball over eight times in the period, leading to 10 BG points.
The Lady Marauders started the second quarter on a 9-2 run that ended with a nifty Greaser spinning drive for a bucket off a Tyrone turnover to build the lead to 29-12. The Lady Eagles had no rhythm offensively and netted just two field goals in the quarter as BG built a 34-16 advantage.
When the Lady Eagles finally got their defensive assignments down in the third, it was more than Guilfoyle could handle. Tyrone forced seven BG turnovers in the third and outscored the Lady Marauders 16-2 over the first 6:11 of the second half to whittle the lead down to 36-31 on a McNelis layup. Lauren Haag drained a pair of three-pointers as part of the run and were it not for a Katie Gartman lay-in at the buzzer, things could have been even worse for BG.
“We were really tentative (against Tyrone’s half-court defense),” said BG coach Mark Moschella. “We’re a young team and sometimes it takes a while for us to get settled down. With an experienced team you call one time out to straighten it out. We had to call three. Hopefully, we get smarter from it.”
Greaser’s three settled things down in a hurry and when BG, with a 46-37 lead, looked content to patiently move the ball and look for opportunities against the Lady Eagles’ 1-2-2, Tyrone was forced to extend its defense out. It worked for a time, and another McNelis layup with 1:40 left cut the lead to 46-43, but the Lady Marauders went 4 for 5 at the line in the last 1:23 to ice it.
Greaser added an assist late to Lindsay Conner to make it 50-43 and hit a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Joanna Turner led Tyrone with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Haag finished with 10.
HOOP NOTES: Tyrone is 0-3 against Guilfoyle since the Mountain League expanded to two divisions last year … the Lady Eagles shot 11 for 22 from the floor in the second half … BG turned the ball over 12 times in the second half … McGowan led BG with a game-high 20 points … Swaney credited Haag, who through three games is averaging 9.3 points per game with six three pointers, saying she’s playing as well as anyone on the squad … Tyrone travels to Huntingdon on Wednesday.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Bishop Guilfoyle’s won the jayvee game 43-25 despite a spirited Tyrone effort in the second half.
Emily McKenna, Kylie Wallace, Tania Lewis and Ashley Roth each scored four for the Lady Eagles in a balanced attack, but BG’s depth showed as the Lady Marauders checked 11 players into the scoring column.
VARSITY
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – Greaser 5 0-0 13; Sissler 0 2-3 2; McGowan 7 5-6 20; Gartman 3 1-2 7; Geishauser 0 0-0 0; Conner 2 2-2 6; Nagle 1 0-0 2; Sral 1 0-0 3; McDougal 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 10-13 55
3-POINT GOALS: Greaser (3), Sral (1)McGowan (1)
TYRONE – M. DelBaggio 3 2-2 8; Turner 3 7-9 13; A. DelBaggio 2 0-0 4; Haag 4 0-0 10; McNelis 4 0-0 8; McKenna 0 0-0 0; Bryan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 9-11 43
3-POINT GOALS: HAAG (2)
B. GUILFOYLE 20 14 5 16 – 55
TYRONE 10 6 17 10 – 43
JUNIOR VARSITY
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – Sheilds 1 1-1 3; Sommer 2 0-0 5; Rose 2 0-0 4; Cimbiotti 2 0-0 4; Bumgartner 0 1-2 1; Steinbugl 2 1-2 5; Byrne 2 1-1 5; Filler 1 0-0 2; Lestochi 2 0-0 6; Napolitana 1 0-0 2; Sral 2 0-2 5; Parrish 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 17 5-10 42
3-POINT FIELD GOALS: Sommer (1), Lestochi (2), Sral (1)
TYRONE – McKenna 2 0-2 4; Wallace 0 4-7 4; Stanton 0 2-3 2; Hoover 1 0-0 2; Lloyd 0 0-0 0; Ingle 1 0-1 2; Lewis 2 0-0 4; Roth 1 1-4 4; Russell 0 1-2 1; Hoover 0 0-0 0; Taylor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 7 8-19 25
3-POINT GOALS: Roth (1)
B. GUILFOYLE 14 10 9 9 – 42
TYRONE 2 8 5 10 – 25
