While the Tyrone Golden Eagles were spinning their wheels in The Hollidaysburg Tournament earlier this month, losing all three games, Coach Harris knew in his mind it could only make his squad better. Well last night proved that, with a come from behind win against a gritty Indian Valley team that wouldn’t give up. Tyrone started off strong with a 10-8 first quarter as Tyrone senior co-captain Leonard Wilson tallied six of his game high 15 points and Indian Valley junior standout Matt Tundell scored his teams first eights points in the first quarter.
Tyrone opened the game up a bit when Byron Kost hit a triple from the doorway and was fouled for a four point play as they raced to a six point lead. The Warriors got twoquick baskets from Kent Byler and Jaime Thompson but a Kost miss turned into a Wilson layup and a foul to make the score 21-18 with 3:00 to go in the second quarter
Then Steve Catich took his turn at the charity stripe as he was fouled twice in the final seconds and he converted on both and Tyrone led 27-20. A layup at the buzzer by Byler made the halftime score 27-22.
In the second half Catich received a pass from Wilson and laid it in and Indian Valley’s Austin Long hit a jumper before Adam Corle nailed a clutch three pointer just inside half court to put the Eagles up by eight with 5:55 left in the third. “That was a big shot for Adam, he has been coming off the bench and doing the job” said Coach Harris. “He and Shane Barr played really well tonight for us. The third quarter was a low scoring foul infested quarter, but it set the tone for a frantic finish.
The fourth quarter started with a pair of layups from Tyler Hoover as Tyrone’s lead swelled to 40-32 but Long answered with a pair of buckets and Tundell’s put back and the lead evaporated to two points with 3:00 to go. Byler converted on his only two free throws and the score was tied at 40.
A Wilson drive fed by Kost put Tyrone back on top before a technical foul was called on Ben Yoder. When the dust settled Tyrone was up agin 46-40 with 2:40 to go.
Indian Valley went on a 7-0 over the next 1:40 including a Hartman trey and with :41 seconds left Tyrone was down 48-46. A Wilson foul put Hartman at the line and he sunk them both but Kost hit his second trey with 13 seconds to pull within one. With Tyrone fouling they sent Hartman to the line and he missed on both, and Harris called a timeout to set up “The Wheel”. Wilson came off a screen and posted up his man and powered it up and laid it in for the lead with 2.8 seconds left. “Leonard really showed his leadership calling for the play in the timeout and to make it work is a tribute to him.” Harris beamed. “This was a big win and we are just getting better each game.”
Tyrone travels to Blairsville for their Holiday Tournament and will play Shanksville-Stoney Creek on Thursday night.
Tyrone 53 Indian Valley 50
Tyrone – Wilson 5 5-11 15, Catich 3 5-6 11, Kost 2 2-3 8, Clark 3 0-0 6, Barr 1 0-0 2, Hoover 2 0-0 4, Morrow 1 0-0 2, Corle 1 2-2 5. Totals 18 14-22 53.
Indian Valley – Tundell 7 1-1 15, Hartman 3 2-4 11, Yoder 1 0-0 3, Long 5 1-2 11, Thompson 1 0-0 2, Byler 3 2-2 8. Totals 20 6-9 50.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 10 17 9 17 – 53
Indian Valley 8 14 10 18
Three-point goals: Indian Valley-4 (Hartman-3, Yoder-1).
Tyrone-3 (Kost-2,Corle-1).
