Getting to be 17-0 isn’t easy. It only looks that way when you have two scorers like Mallory Moore and Courtney Walsh.
The tandem came into the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium last night as the top two scorers for the undefeated Central Mountain Lady Wildcats, and they combined for 55 points in their team’s 63-43 victory over Tyrone.
Moore led Central Mountain with a game-high 23, while Walsh scored 22, and the duo did it in waves, with one scorer picking up where the other left off. Moore fronted the Lady ‘Cats in the first half, netting 20 points as Central Mountain broke out to a 36-17 lead. In the second half, Walsh scored 14, including 12 in the third quarter.
“All five of their starters have the ability to score. It’s not just those two,” said Tyrone coach Luke Rhoades, whose team fell to 7-12. “You can’t defend them hoping to stop one person. You’ve really got to prepare to stop them all. They’re a team filled with seasoned veterans.”
The Lady ‘Cats’ experience showed throughout the game as they ran their Princeton-style offense to perfection. In the first half, Central Mountain shot 14-for-28 and turned the ball over only three times.
Even more, they snapped the clamps on defensively, putting the kybosh on most of Tyrone’s favorite looks on offense. Lanes for penetration were few, and shots off ball reversal were hard to come by because the Lady ‘Cats rotated quickly.
And even when the Lady Eagles did get open looks, they weren’t knocking them down with the regularity they had in the five previous games. Tyrone went 2-for-11 in the first quarter in falling behind 18-5 and finished the game 16-for-47.
“I thought we played tough, but we missed some opportunities early, and that had a lot to do with their pressure defense,” Rhoades said. “We definitely didn’t shoot well.”
Still, the Lady Eagles battled, and won the appreciation of Rhoades. Central Mountain still had much of its starting lineup on the floor as late as the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter – a period won by the Lady Eagles 14-9.
“I’m proud of our effort,” he said. “If we can play this hard every night, we’re going to win more than we lose.”
However, the effort couldn’t make up for two of the better players Tyrone has faced this season. Moore, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 10 in the first quarter, and seven of the Lady ‘Cats’ first nine in the second.
In the third quarter, Walsh, a 5-foot-10 post, scored Central Mountain’s first four baskets as part of a 9-3 run that made it 45-20 with 5:38 to go in the period. With her banging away inside, the Lady ‘Cats shot 7-for-11 in the frame.
The lead grew as large as 31 on a foul shot by Moore early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Eagles closed the game on a 12-1 run. Kassie Faretta scored three in the run, giving her a team-high 10.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Lady Eagles’ jayvee team won for the first time this season, posting a 38-34 victory in the preliminary game.
Ashley Ford led Tyrone with 12 points, while Marah Hawes chipped in 11. The Lady Eagles led 30-13 at halftime.
With the win, the Lady Eagles improved to 1-16.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 63 TYRONE 43
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN – Moore 8 7-12 23; Stevenson 2 3-5 7; E. Williams 2 1-1 6; Walsh 10 1-3 22; Dwyer 2 0-0 4; Brandt 0 0-0 0; C. Williams 0 1-2 1; Rodabaugh 0 0-1 0. TOTALS: 24 13-23 63.
TYRONE – Corle 3 0-0 7; Christine 1 0-0 3; Faretta 4 1-1 10; Barbinsky 1 0-0 2; Emigh 2 3-6 7; Hawes 2 4-8 8; Harden 2 0-0 4; Ray 1 0-0 2; Zimmerman 0 0-0 0; Adams 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 8-15 43.
SCORE BY QUARTER
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 18 18 18 9 – 63
TYRONE 5 12 12 14 – 43
THREE-POINT GOALS: Tyrone 3 (Faretta, Corle, Christine), Central Mountain 2 (Walsh, E. Williams)
