The Tyrone eighth and ninth graders finished the week by splitting a pair of games in boys basketball action.
On Thursday at home, the ninth grade roundballers mashed Philipsburg-Osceola 49-12 to win their seventh game of the season to go with three losses.
Ten players in all scored for the Tyrone ninth grade team, with Austin Barefoot leading the way with a team-high 12 points, and Rich Stever followed with nine points.
Utilizing a high-pressure defensive effort, Tyrone jumped out to leads of 15-3 and 26-6 in the first two quarters on the way to the rout.
“Philipsburg-Osceola just couldn’t handle our man-to-man full court pressure, they kept turning the ball over,” reported Tyrone coach Pat Campbell.
The Eagle eighth grade squad splashed the Philipsburg-Osceola eight graders 34-19, with Jimmy Ferguson leading the way with 10 points for Tyrone.
Playing at Bellefonte on Friday, foul shooting, or actually the absence of scoring from the line, was the story. After crushing the Little Raiders 51-27 in the first meeting at Tyrone, Tyrone muffed at the foul line in the repeat, converting just four of 14 shots in an 40-33 loss to the Bellefonte junior high boys.
Bellefonte was able to sink 10 of 16 from the charity stripe in the seven-point win, and was able to score several easy baskets in the waning moments of the game, points that coach Campbell didn’t think would have been scored with a different game had the Little Eagles chipped in points from the foul line with the clock not moving.
“We didn’t shoot the rock well from the foul line,” said Campbell. “That was the difference maker.”
Andy Brookenshire and Levi Reihart both scored 10 points to lead the Eagles, who trailed only 32-29 at the end of three quarters, but were then outscored 8-4 over the final quarter to fall to 7-4.
Against Bellefonte, the Tyrone eighth graders suffered the same fate as the Eagle ninth grade team, falling 37-32.
Rich Stever scored 12 points for Tyrone, and Derrick Emeigh chipped in with nine points for the eighth grade Little Eagles, who also had trouble from the foul line, hitting just 13 of 27 from the line.
