Coming up fast on the Christmas holiday, Tyrone’s eighth and ninth grade boys basketball teams took on three more opponents last week, and almost got through the week without a blemish on their records. Finishing the week before, with both teams holding a record of 4-0, Tyrone played the Bellefonte Red Raiders, Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders, and the Indian Valley Warriors. While the ninth graders dropped a tough game to BG to finish the week 6-1, the eighth graders stayed perfect at 7-0.
On Tuesday Dec 20,, the Red Raiders traveled to Tyrone to take on the Eagles. The eighth graders took the court first, starting out strong against the Raiders with a 12-3 first quarter lead behind seven points from Andy Brokenshire and a three-pointer from Levi Riehart. They then held on through the next three quarters to win 29-22. Brokenshire finished with 11 points, with seven added by Eric Desch.
In the ninth grade game, all five starters got into the act in the first period, outscoring Bellefonte 15-6, and then took a commanding 23-8 halftime lead. The second half was more of the same, with the Eagles holding the Raiders to just three points, and the game finished 45-11.
Kyle Updyke led the scoring with 12 points along with nine other Eagles joining in the scoring column.
9th Grade
Tyrone 45 Bellefonte 11
Score by quarters
Tyrone 15 8 14 8 – 45
Bellefonte 6 2 3 0 – 11
Tyrone – Updyke 12, Ingle 6, Shaffer 6, Dane 5, Peterman 4, Young 4, Black 2, Cruz 2, Brokenshire 2, Desch 2.
8th Grade
Tyrone 29 Bellefonte 22
Score by quarters
Tyrone 12 5 7 5 – 29
Bellefonte 3 7 5 7 – 22
Tyrone – Brokenshire 11, Desch 7, Riehart 4, Walker 3, Taylor 2, McKeehan 2.
On Thursday, Dec. 22, the Golden Eagles traveled down I-99 and Pleasant Valley Blvd. to take on the Marauders of Bishop Guilfoyle. This time, the ninth graders got to play first, and fell behind from the opening tap. The Marauders took a 12-8 first quarter lead and stretched that to 27-20 as the Eagles failed to get the ball inside.
BG continued to foil attempts by the Eagles to close the gap throughout the last two quarters and won 49-39.
Travis Peterman led Tyrone with 10 points, and Ben Ingle added eight.
Doing their best to pull out at least one win in their trip to Altoona, Tyrone’s eighth graders played a gritty game with a tough BG team, and forced the game into overtime. There, with time running out, Levi Riehart fired a three-pointer that went through the net as the buzzer sounded, winning 35-34.
9th Grade
Bishop Guilfoyle 49 Tyrone 39
Score by quarters
Tyrone 8 12 9 10 – 39
Bishop Guilfoyle 12 15 10 12 – 49
Tyrone – Peterman 10, Ingle 8, Updyke 7, Shaffer 7, Black 3, Dane 2, Young 2.
8th Grade
Tyrone 35 Bishop Guilfoyle 34
Score by quarters
Tyrone 5 7 7 10 6 – 35
Bishop Guilfoyle 7 6 7 9 5 – 34
Tyrone – Riehart 13, Desch 7, Walker 6, McKeehan 4, Taylor 3, Brokenshire 2
Then on Friday, the Tyrone Junior High boys wrapped up their last games of 2005 by taking on the Indian Valley Warriors at home.
The eighth graders continued their undefeated run by taking a 23-1 advantage by halftime, and coasting to an easy 29-8 win.
Scoring was spread out among eight players with Eric Desch getting six points, and Andy Brokenshire and Drew Carlson adding five each.
The ninth graders then got back on the winning track, playing a fast-paced tough battle with Indian Valley. They jumped out to a 17-8 first quarter lead behind a trio of three-pointers from Travis Peterman and two inside scores from Nathan Dane, and held on for a 24-16 halftime lead.
Indian Valley tried to rally in the third quarter, but John Shaffer scored seven points to keep the Warriors at bay, and stretched the lead to 15, 36-21.
The Warriors fourth quarter effort fell short as the Eagles held on to win 45-38.
9th Grade
Tyrone 45 Indian Valley 38
Score by quarters
Tyrone 17 7 12 9 – 45
Indian Valley 8 8 5 17 – 38
Tyrone – Peterman 14, Shaffer 11, Updyke 9, Dane 8, Ingle 3.
8th Grade
Tyrone 29 Indian Valley 8
Score by quarter
Tyrone 13 10 3 3 – 29
Indian Valley 1 0 3 4 – 8
Tyrone – Desch 6, Brokenshire 5, Carlson 5, Taylor 4, Riehart 3, Walker 2, McKeehan 2, Barefoot 2.
The Tyrone Junior High boys will have the holiday off, and will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006, when they travel to Huntingdon to take on the Bearcats. Later that week, on Friday, Jan. 6, they will host Philipsburg-Osceola.
