After Tyrone’s junior varsity prevailed over Bellwood-Antis 61-29, the two varsity squads went to the wire in their season opening game. The Blue Devils came out on top 57-55 after overcoming a 12 point halftime deficit.
The Golden Eagles came out of the gate strong, outscoring the Blue Devils 16-12 in the first period. Tyrone widened their lead during the second period, where they out gained Bellwood 20-12. Although they held a 36-24 halftime lead Tyrone was playing sloppy basketball, and that would continue into the second half of play.
“Playing undisciplined basketball got us beat,” said Tyrone head coach Mike Harris after the game. “We took bad shots on offense, we turned the ball over. Doing those things will get you beat every time.”
To make matters worse for the Golden Eagles, Bellwood-Antis’ Ryan Myers chalked up a big game for Bellwood-Antis. The 6-3 senior led all scorers with 25 points on the night, including a perfect 5 of 5 performance from the foul line.
“We couldn’t stop Myers,” commented Harris on the Blue Devil’s outstanding showing.
While Myers contributed nearly half of the Bellwood-Antis offense, several Golden Eagles shared the offensive workload. Tyrone junior Brady Hoover sank all of his four free throw attempts and led the Golden Eagles with 14 points, while seniors Tyler Mertiff and Mike Ashcroft each reached double digits in scoring. Mertiff totaled 11 points, and Ashcroft added 10.
The Blue Devils came out of the locker room ready to play in the second half, narrowing Tyrone’s lead to four during the third period then shutting the Golden Eagles down in the fourth. Tyrone managed a mere five points in the final period, while Bellwood-Antis was able to score 13 to get the win.
With 5:45 to play, Blue Devil senior Steve Crider gathered a rebound on his own shot and was fouled under the basket. He went to the line and converted both of his shots, pulling Bellwood to within a bucket. Ricky Shannon hauled in a rebound on Tyrone’s next offensive possession, and scored on the other end to tie the game at 51-51. The two teams went back and forth until Bellwood’s Danny Smith cut through the Golden Eagle defense and laid the ball in to put the Blue Devils on top 57-55 with four seconds left. Hoover put up a desperation three pointer at the buzzer, but the shot was no good.
“We’ve got to get better,” stated Coach Harris after the contest. “We’ve got Bishop Guilfoyle coming up. We’re going from tough to tougher.”
The Golden Eagles should be motivated for their Saturday match up with Bishop Guilfoyle, as the Marauders beat Tyrone in the District VI Class AA Championship game last season. Bellwood-Antis hosts West Branch on Wednesday night.
Bellwood-Antis 57, Tyrone 55
Score by quarters
Bellwood-Antis – 12 12 20 13 – 57
Tyrone – 16 20 14 5 – 55
Individual Scoring
Bellwood-Antis – Shannon 3 2-3 9, Smith 3 0-0 7, Crider 2 4-5 9, Carlson 3 0-0 7, Myers 10 5-5 25, Rogers 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 11-13 57.
Tyrone – Mertiff 4 2-4 11, Ashcroft 5 0-0 10, B. Hoover 5 4-4 14, Cushion 3 1-2 8, Chamberlain 3 2-3 8, Domenick 1 1-1 3, Gummo 0 1-2 1, A. Hoover 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 11-16 55.
3pt FG: Bellwood-Antis: Shannon 1, Smith 1, Crider 1, Carlson 1; Tyrone: Mertiff 1, Cushion 1.
