It was senior night in Williamsburg, and the Blue Pirates were ready to roll as they took on the 8-13 Tyrone Golden Eagles. It was an ugly start for Tyrone, but they found a way to forget about the first quarter and outscore Williamsburg, 60-32 for the remainder of the game.
Williamsburg looked as if they were going to run away with the game in the first two minutes as they kept Tyrone shut out, 6-0 with 6:00 to go in the first quarter. Tyrone turned the ball over five times, three of which were traveling calls at mid-court.
“The first half they had a little momentum because of Senior Night,” Tyrone head coach Mike Harris stated, “and they were all excited to play, but I felt we weathered that storm. We came out in the second half and just did a great job.”
It was almost as if Tyrone had given up until they pulled off a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The quarter bounced back and forth, but Tyrone held a 13-12 lead behind 12 combined points from Byron Kost and Leonard Wilson. Tyrone would never trail again the rest of the game.
Williamsburg caught up in the second quarter and got as close as 20-18 with 4:44 to go, but Tyrone poured on a 12-2 run to finish the half up 32-20. It was a dominant second quarter for the Eagles who continued by blowing out the Blue Pirates by outscoring them 41-24 in the second half.
Tyrone went on to win 73-44 and showed that they are in no means of giving up just yet on the season.
The second half belonged to Tyrone sophomore, Steve Catich, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Ten of which came in the third quarter due to his intensity in the paint and constant hustling.
Kost and Wilson also had exciting performances as Kost knocked down three treys, adding onto his season record after each three he hits. Wilson is approaching his 1000th point as he cut his margin to 27 after Wednesday night’s game.
“It was a good win for us,” Tyrone coach Mike Harris stated. “The kids played hard out there. The game was a nice solid victory tonight for us.”
With one game remaining on the schedule, Tyrone travels to Central High School where they will face a team out of Westmont Hilltop’s conference, who previously beat Tyrone Monday night. The game doesn’t mean much, but with a big victory on the road, Tyrone could push the momentum and intensity that they need straight through Districts.
“Well, Central has gotten a lot better over the years since they joined Westmont’s conference,” Harris said. “They come from a very physical and tough conference, but we’ve seen teams and we are ready for anything. I told the guys tonight that if we play as hard as we can, we could beat anybody. If we go up there Saturday and play hard, the results will be in our favor.”
Tyrone improves to 9-13 with one game remaining on the schedule before playoffs. Catich, Wilson and Kost combined for 49 of the Eagles 73 points in the victory. Wilson led the way with 18 and Kost knocked in numbers 71,72 and 73 in the record books for treys in a season. With one game remaining and the Eagles on the bubble, Tyrone will need a big win in Central to boost their playoff determination within the next week and a half.
Williamsburg’s Brandon Chamberlain led the way early on, but couldn’t finish off the deal as he was the only Blue Pirate in double figures with 14. Chamberlain scored eight in the first quarter, six of which were the first points of the game by either team.
Tyrone 73 Williamsburg 44
Score by Quarters
Tyrone – Wilson 6 5-8 18, Corle 1 0-0 3, Clark 1 0-0 2, Morrow 1 1-2 3, Catich 6 5-5 17, Kost 4 3-3 14, Barr 1 0-0 2, Hoover 3 0-0 6, Stover 1 0-0 2, Gehret 1 0-0 3. Totals 25 14-18 73
Williamsburg – Chamberlain 7 0-0 14, Jake Harker 1 0-0 2, Josh Harker 1 0-0 3, Martin 3 0-0 6, Corbucci 3 1-1 7, Yeager 3 0-0 6, Eastep 1 0-0 2, Graham 2 0-1 4. Totals 21 1-2 44
Tyrone 13 19 18 23 – 73
Williamsburg 12 8 9 15 – 44
Three-point goals Tyrone-5 (Kost-3, Corle, Wilson)
Williamsburg-1 (Josh Harker)
Junior Varsity
After trailing 29-27 at the end of the first half, Tyrone shutdown the Blue Pirates to single figures in the third and fourth quarter as they picked up a 49-42 victory on the road.
