Tyrone boys perfect after win in title game

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers

Sam Crilly works to dribble by PC defender Gavin Harrold.

By Nate Ritchey

nritchey@altoonamirror.com

TYRONE — The Tyrone boys basketball team is off to a blistering start through the first month of the season by winning its first five games prior to this weekend’s tournament by an average of just under 31 points a game.

Friday night’s 29-point victory over Claysburg-Kimmel didn’t do much to change that average, but Saturday’s championship game of the Fred B. Miller Memorial Holiday Basketball Tournament against Penn Cambria figured to be a much closer game.

The Golden Eagles had other plans and showed it right from the start as the hosts jumped all over the Panthers.

Tyrone used a pair of 13 unanswered point runs in the first quarter alone to grab a 22-point cushion en route to a 34-point margin of victory in a 77-43 win.

The win kept the Eagles unbeaten at 7-0.

“I’m really happy with our guys, and how they’re working at practice each day and pushing each other to get better and the way they keep picking each other up,” Tyrone coach Luke Rhoades said. “We want to keep building on this because we have a tough, tough January.”

PC’s Isaac Strittmatter made a layup just 19 seconds into the contest to give his team its only lead of the night.

Tyrone’s Kendall Lehner converted the first of three Eagle putbacks to kickstart the first spurt.

“Our coaches do a great job of making that (offensive rebounding) a focus for us,” Lehner said. “Last year, we weren’t very good at it as we struggled. This year, we’re making that a focus. So, to be able to get these offensive rebounds and putbacks, it builds a lead.”

During the span, Lehner and Andrew Escala, both members of the all-tournament team, accounted for all 13 points and each grabbed four rebounds apiece.

“We like to come out hot, hit our bigs down low and get rebounds,” Escala said. “We try to play fast and put it away in the first quarter.”

Escala, who had five of those 13, got his own rebound and stuck it back in at 6:41 to give Tyrone a lead it would not relinquish.

Lehner, who tied Escala for game-high honors with 16 points, tallied three straight inside before Escala buried a 3-pointer at 4:44 to cap off the spurt and make the score 13-2.

“We talked about the energy, and we talked about coming out every game and playing with that,” Rhoades said. “The nice thing is we started to focus on inside, and I think those guys (Escala and Lehner) get up quick and rebound the ball. They wanted to go after this today.”

A 9-5 showing by the Panthers (3-4) had the game at 18-9 when Brady Jones came off the bench to deliver a trey with 2:33 remaining.

Tyrone’s Eli Woomer, who finished with 13 points, knocked down the first of his three from deep to get the second 13-0 burst rolling.

“I’m real happy with the intensity the guys came out with as they were really focused,” Rhoades said. “… I’ve got to give our guys credit, the way we passed the ball in those runs early — we found an open man, we made the extra pass and we really attacked from inside-out which I’m really happy about. Sometimes we get caught settling for outside shots but I thought early in the game we went inside and then it opened up the outside.”

Escala strung together five more points before Woomer scored again, Trent Adams hit a free throw and Ashton Emigh beat the first quarter buzzer to put the Golden Eagles up 31-9.

“I’ve been playing with these boys for basically my whole life,” Escala said. “We’re always going to be in each others heads because we know each other.”

Tyrone piggybacked a 7-0 run to start the second quarter of the 13 straight to close out the opening stanza to push the lead out to 38-9.

“They (Tyrone) were by far the better team tonight. In every facet of the game they just beat us — like beat us down to a pulp,” Penn Cambria coach Jim Ronan said. “They were hungry. There’s been a rivalry with these two schools with football and basketball for quite a few years. We talked about that, and they (Tyrone) came in with an edge, and a chip — a big chip on their shoulder. They executed it — their game plan. Their energy was through the roof, they wanted to destroy us and that’s what happened.”

A driving layup from PC’s Caden Gibbons at 4:53 ended the spurt but a quick answer in transition from tournament MVP Sam Crilly, who delivered 13 points, gave the Eagles a 30-point edge at 41-11 not even midway through the second quarter.

An old fashioned 3-point play by the Panthers Brandon Rabish, who was named to the all-tournament team after leading his team with 14 points, would allow his team to produce a slight 7-5 scoring edge over the next three minutes as PC began to show some level of fight.

A baseline driving layup from Penn Cambria’s Jayce Davison ended that mini run and made the score 47-18 before Tyrone closed the half with six straight points by Landon Hamer, including a play at the end that defined the hustle, focus, effort and cohesion that allowed the Golden Eagles to blow the game wide open so early.

On the defensive end, Hamer grabbed a rebound, kicked it ahead to a teammate and then immediately sprinted right to the opposite rim where he received the pass.

The senior, who had a team-high eight rebounds to go with his eight points, caught the ball in stride and went up for a layup to beat the buzzer and send his Eagles’ team into the half up 53-18.

“We really push our bigs because we want them to run rim-to-rim,” Rhoades. “We talk about that, and he (Hamer) did a great job of ripping the rebound, making a good outlet, flowing down there and catching it and finishing.”

With the mercy rule running clock in effect the entire second half, Tyrone used a 14-12 scoring advantage in the third to take a 67-30 lead into the fourth.

With the benches being cleared in the final stanza, Penn Cambria would win the quarter with a 13-10 difference that set the final.

“By that time when you’re down by 30, it’s kind of a moot point,” Ronan said. “We did play a lot harder in the second half.”

In the consolation game, Claysburg-Kimmel beat Bellwood-Antis, 60-57, behind 20 points from Brayden Haney, 17 points from Gavin Treon and 12 from Christian Treon. The Bulldogs (2-7) trailed 18-8 after one quarter.

B-A (0-6) was led by Jackson Dorminy’s 21 points, along with 15 from Holden Schreier.

CHAMPIONSHIP

PENN CAMBRIA (43): Lilly 1 4-6 6, Gibbons 1 2-2 4, Rabish 5 4-4 14, Strittmatter 3 0-0 6, Harrold 1 0-0 3, Farabaugh 1 0-0 2, Jones 1 0-0 3, Nadolsky 1 1-1 3, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Davison 1 0-0 2, Mallory 0 0-0 0, Himmer 0 0-2 0, Price 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 11-15 43.

TYRONE (77): Crilly 5 0-0 13, A. Walk 0 0-2 0, Escala 5 4-4 16, Lehner 6 4-4 16, Woomer 4 2-2 13, Hamer 4 0-0 8, Adams 0 1-2 1, A. Emigh 2 0-2 4, M. Emigh 0 0-0 0, Oakes 0 1-2 1, Novak 0 1-4 1, Dasher 1 0-0 2, Parsons 1 0-0 2, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Gwinn 0 0-0 0, Rudden 0 0-2 0. Totals: 28 13-24 77.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 9 9 12 13 — 43

Tyrone 31 22 14 10 — 77

3-point field goals: Penn Cambria 1 (Harrold); Tyrone 8 (Crilly 3, Woomer 3, Escala 2).

Records: Penn Cambria (3-4); Tyrone (7-0).

CONSOLATION

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (60): Haney 5 7-8 20, Walter 1 0-0 2, Kulick 3 0-0 9, C. Treon 5 0-0 12, G. Treon 8 1-3 17, Knisely 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 8-11 60.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (57): H. Schreier 5 3-4 15, Fatzinger 2 0-1 4, Mayes 3 2-2 8, Dorminy 7 2-2 21, Shedlock 2 2-3 6, McClellan 1 0-0 3, Shanafelt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 9-12 57.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 18 8 20 11 – 57

Claysburg-Kimmel 8 18 18 16 – 60

3-point goals: B-A 8 (Dorminy 5, H. Schreier 2, McClellan); C-K 8 (Haney 3, Kulick 3, C. Treon 2)

Records: Bellwood-Antis (0-6), Claysburg-Kimmel (2-7)