When the home team’s “Dawg Pound” begins cheering for the other team to score, you know the game is getting out of hand. Tyrone just could not catch up to the blazing Red Devils in the opening round of the 2006 County Seat Tournament.
After a bucket from Matt Brooks to start the game off, Central Cambria would score the next 15 points behind 6-9 freshman, Brian Holsinger. He was absolutely unstoppable underneath as the Red Devils tore apart the Tyrone defense.
Tyrone, however would get a few points back when Steve Catich broke the 15-0 run with 3:34 to go in the first half with a long two-point field goal. Doug Morrow then added two free-throws on Tyrone’s 4-0 run, which gave them some life back, but it was not enough to get them back into a rhythm as they trailed 23-13 after one quarter of play.
Jordan Miller, a sophomore for the Red Devils, sliced through Tyrone with tricky passes and sweet jumpers. He led the Devils with 18 points, 12 of which were in the first half. He was unstoppable and caused Brandon Gehret all sorts of trouble out front as Central Cambria took a 47-25 lead into the locker room.
If there was one thing Tyrone could do to get back into the game, it was to just come out blazing on offense, but with an average of 45 points a game, Tyrone was least likely to get back into the game on the offensive side.
Tyrone quickly scored two points from Catich to start the second half off, but would then surrender a 7-2 run to the Red Devils, extending their lead to 25 points with over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. They were completely on fire and Tyrone had no answers on how to stop this fury.
At this point, Central Cambria’s “Dawg Pound” began cheering for Tyrone to score. It was embarrassing to hear them chant defense when Tyrone was on defense and start to clap when Tyrone was on offense.
The Red Devils then took the next six points, putting up 60 points in three quarters as they went on top 60-35. Who could stop the Holsinger brothers as they combined for 25 points in the game, 14 of which were from Dan Holsinger. They were the threat inside as their 6-9 and 6-5 presence gave them easy put-backs and dumps for buckets throughout the game.
With a 25 point cushion, the Red Devils began to substitute the Jayvee’s in and out with some varsity players remaining on the court throughout the fourth quarter as they cruised to a 77-57 victory, despite giving up 22 points in the fourth quarter to the struggling Tyrone squad.
Tyrone will play Bishop Carroll today, at 6:00 p.m. as they look to end their five game skid.
Catich, once again, led Tyrone with 17 points and was the only player in double-digits for the Eagles. When the scoring lies on the shoulders of one player, teams will not score points, and Tyrone needs to find that rhythm on offense so that the scoring begins to spark. One positive note on the game, Jamie Levinson knocked down eight points, as he hit two three’s at the end of the game in a two minute stretch. Will he be the answer to help the offensive struggle?
Central Cambria picked up from where they left off in Tyrone as they stomped all over the Golden Eagles in a 20 point victory behind 18 points from Miller. The Devils had four players in double-digits, 11 from Brian Holsinger and Corey Faish, and 14 points from Dan Holsinger as they advance into the championship against Bellwood-Antis Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. Look for the Red Devils to continue their high-powered offense tomorrow night with the height and depth advantage in the championship.
Central Cambria 77 Tyrone 57
Tyrone – Catich 7 2-4 17, Brooks 2 2-2 6, Morrow 3 3-5 9, Levinson 3 0-0 8, Franco 3 2-4 8, Updyke 2 2-4 6, Stover 1 0-0 2, Ingle 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 12-21 57.
Central Cambria – B. Holsinger 5 1-2 11, D. Holsinger 4 6-6 14, Miller 6 1-2 18, Faish 3 2-2 11, Gowen 3 1-1 8, McGregor 1 0-0 2, Taylor 2 2-4 6, Kimball 1 0-0 2, Zearing 1 0-0 2, James 1 0-0 2, Ridgely 0 1-2 1. Totals 27 14-19 77
Tyrone 13 12 10 22 – 57
Central Cambria 23 24 13 17 – 77
Three-point goal: Tyrone-3 (Levinson-2, Catich-1)
Central Cambria-5 (Faish-3, Gowen-1, Miller-1)
