Post-season tournament success, where coaches get the opportunity to see what players they may have coming up for the next season, is often very hard to come by. But this past Monday, a group of Tyrone Area eighth graders showed just what they are made of! The Tyrone team came home from Wingate with the Bald Eagle Area March Madness Championship trophy and lots of other hardware as well.
Their opening game in the BEA tournament ultimately proved to be the toughest challenge. Sluggish at the start, Tyrone trailed 19-18 at the halftime intermission, before coming on strong to take a 39-30 win against a team from Penns Valley.
Game two pitted the Little Eagles against a host team from Bald Eagle Area. Tyrone proved to have too much depth, rolling to a 49-22 triumph.
In the semifinal game of the winners’ bracket, Tyrone took on Central Dubois Catholic. Up just nine at halftime (27-18), the Tyrone eighth graders turned on the afterburners and cruised to a 53-35 win to earn a position in the finals.
In the championship finals, Tyrone again faced Dubois Central Catholic, who came back through the losers’ bracket of the double elimination tournament to qualify for the finals. The game result wasn’t much different from the first meeting, with Tyrone showcasing their speed on the way to a 56-35 victory and the championship.
Steve Catich was voted Most Valuable Player of the entire tournament and Josh Bradley joined him on the All-tourney team. Brandon Gehret also had a super tournament as recognized by Tyrone coaches Jim Cushion and Jim Domenick.
