Senior point guard Jay Stoltz was a one-man army against Tyrone for Central on Saturday evening. Stoltz backed up his MVP award at the recent Williamsburg Holiday Tournament with a captivating performance in the second half of a girls/boys doubleheader at Martinsburg by tossing in six three-pointers and scoring 27 points in leading the Scarlet Dragons to a 53-46 triumph over the visiting Golden Eagles.
Stoltz helped Central get off to a quick start, sinking two of his treys in the first quarter when the Dragons opened up a 17-10 lead.
Tyrone was able to regroup and come back to grab the lead 20-19 midway through the second quarter, but Central finished the first half strong by going on an 11-2 run to take a 30-22 lead into the halftime intermission.
“We battled back to take the lead,” said Tyrone coach Mike Harris, “but then we made four straight turnovers. We have to start making better decisions with the basketball.”
Central got into foul trouble in the third quarter, but Stoltz and the Dragons’ bench matched the Eagles point-for-point during the period 13-13 to go into the final 12 minutes with an eight-point advantage, 43-35.
“He was on fire,” said Harris of Stoltz, who hit consecutive three-pointers to give Central a 40-28 lead midway through the third quarter. “We were in his face and he was still hitting them. We knew he could shoot, but not like that.”
Tyrone refused to down without a fight however. A trey by Nick Cushion cut the Central lead over the Eagles to within four 50-46 with just under two minutes to play. Tyrone couldn’t score following the three-pointer however and Central held on for the win.
The Eagles had an opportunity with Central struggling from the foul line in the final quarter, but Tyrone wasn’t able to capitalize.
“We couldn’t get over the hump and get that big basket when we needed it,” said Harris. “We have a lot of young inexperienced kids, but someone needs to step up and fill the scorers role for us and hit the big shots when we need them. We have the guys who can do it, they just aren’t doing it up right now.”
Kevin Hershberger led Tyrone in scoring with nine points, Cushion and Leonard Wilson each hit eight points and Tadd Chamberlain and Josh Crabtree each scored seven points.
The Tyrone boys (4-6) host Huntingdon tonight in the Tyrone Area High School gym in a makeup of a contest that was snowed out in early Dec. Junior varsity action will begin at 6 p.m. and the varsity will play at 7:30.
Central 53 Tyrone 46
TYRONE – Crabtree 3 1-2 7, Cushion 3 0-0 8, Hershberger 4 1-2 9, Wilson 2 4-7 8, Chamberlain 2 3-6 7, Hoover 2 0-0 4, Morrow 0 0-0 0, Corle 1 0-0 2, Clark 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 17 10-19 46.
CENTRAL – Stoltz 9 3-4 27, Frederick 2 3-6 7, Kensinger 3 0-1 6, Patterson 2 1-1 5, Snyder 2 3-5 8, Dunkle 0 0-2 0, Hileman 0 0-0 0, Bechtel 0 0-0 0, Saylor 0 0-0 0, Lamborn 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 10-19 53.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 10 12 13 11 – 46
Central 17 13 13 10 – 53
Three point goals: Tyrone 2 (Cushion 2).
Central 7 (Stoltz 6, Snyder 1).
