Tyrone coach Jim Swaney has long been a proponent of a three-headed offensive system for girls high school basketball.
As the philosophy goes, if you can find three girls to consistently put the ball in the basket, you improve your chances of winning immeasurably.
One need look no further than the trophy case in front of the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium to recognize the validity of that philosophy. Six of the Lady Eagles’ nine 1,000-point scorers played during an era when the Lady Eagles competed yearly for Mountain League and District 6 championships, won 20-plus games in two of four seasons, and literally rewrote the offensive record book for the Tyrone girls basketball program.
Those six players essentially played on two different teams – with Ashley Norris, Gendie Haverstein and Jennifer Diehl manning the squad from 1992-95 and Megan DelBaggio, Sarah Grazier and Nic DelBaggio doing the job from 1995-98. Each was a tough three-headed monster to beat.
Swaney’s need for a third scorer on the current version of the Lady Eagles was never more evident than Saturday in a 63-38 home loss to Central Mountain. Steady junior Hilary McNelis pumped in her usual 17 points and sophomore Emily McKenna earned every one of her 11, but the rest of the Lady Eagles combined for just 10 as Tyrone fell to 1-7 on the season.
Conversely, the Lady Wildcats got a game-high 20 from slick point guard Missy Blazina, 14 from Katie Fenton and another 15 from Courtney Forwalt. Central Mountain evened its record at 3-3 with its second straight victory.
The loss for Tyrone capped an up-and-down week in which the Lady Eagles won their first game on Monday against a quality Williamsburg squad, before being dismantled by nearly 50 points at Lewistown on Thursday.
“We’re passing up way too many shots right now,” said Swaney. “Yes, we want to work for a good available shot, but I think we’re passing up some good opportunities. The tough part about tonight is that’s a game we can win, and on our floor, it’s probably a game we should win.”
Were it not for the effort of Blazina, who early jump-started the Lady Wildcats with her scoring, and later ignited them with penetration to free open shooters, the Lady Eagles may have won hands down. Blazina scored 10 points – including two three pointers – in the first five minutes of the game, pushing Central Mountain to a 10-7 lead.
The Lady ‘Cats led 14-10 after the first quarter, and two minutes into the second Tyrone had effectively solved their problems defending Blazina’s scoring ability.
That’s when she began to find open players off penetration moves, allowing Fornwalt and Fenton to combine to score 14 of Central Mountain’s 23 points in the period. The Lady ‘Cats used runs of seven and eight straight points to build a 29-15 lead at the 3:34 mark.
But Tyrone rallied behind McKenna and McNelis and had the lead down to 10 (34-24) after McKenna hit a shot with five seconds left in the half. Unfazed, Blazina knocked home a three-pointer from just inside half-court as time expired to extend the Lady ‘Cats’ lead to 13.
The Lady Eagles tightened up defensively in the third quarter and Blazina, with sophomore Emily Lloyd blanketing her, was held to two points. An Ashley Roth basket inside late pulled the Lady Eagles within 11, 43-32, heading into the fourth quarter.
McNelis made a shot to cut it to 43-34 with 7:31 left, but Central Mountain responded with an 18-2 run against full-court pressure from Tyrone.
“The big runs tonight can really be attributed to two things,” Swaney said. “There were too many times tonight (when we were subbing) when we just didn’t know who we had. That’s just a complete mental breakdown on our part and that has to change by the next game. The run in the fourth quarter doesn’t overly concern me. It was an 11-point game and we went into a press. We didn’t think we could trap Blazina, but at that point, what’s the difference if you lose by 20 or by 10? You have to try something to try to win.”
HOOP NOTES: The game marked the second straight outing in which Blazina, Fenton and Fornwalt reached double-digit scoring … McNelis added 10 rebounds for the Lady Eagles … Central Mountain knocked down seven three-pointers … McNelis has now reached double-figure scoring in six consecutive games …Tyrone plays Hollidaysburg tonight in Hollidaysburg.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Tyrone jayvees picked up their second win of the season with a 31-27 win over Central Mountain in the opener.
Tiffany Bradford scored 11 points, grabbed eight boards, and hit a key jumper with under 30 seconds to play to lead Tyrone.
Ashley Roth scored a game-high 14 and ripped down six boards before departing in the second half to prepare for the varsity game.
VARSITY
Central Mountain 63 Tyrone 38
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN – Blazina 8 1-1 20; Fenton 6 2-2 14; Hannegan 3 0-1 6; Duck 0 0-0 0; Fornwalt 7 0-0 15; Bowes 1 1-2 4; Dwyer 1 0-0 2; Madden 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 26 4-6 63.
TYRONE – McNelis 7 2-2 17; McKenna 4 2-4 11; Lloyd 1 4-6 6; Ingle 0 0-0 0; Hoover 1 0-0 2; Wallace 0 0-0 0; Roth 1 0-0 2; Stanton 0 0-0 0; Bradford 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 8-12 38.
Score by Quarters
Central Mountain 14 23 6 20 – 63
Tyrone 10 13 8 6 – 38
Three point goals: Central Mountain 7 (Blazina 3, Hannegan 2, Fornwalt 1, Bowes 1).
Tyrone 2 (McNelis 1, McKenna 1).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Tyrone 31 Central Mountain 27
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN – Hummer 0 0-0 0; Szucs, 1 0-0 2; Madden 1 0-1 2; N. Brooks 1 0-0 2; Conway 0 0-0 0; Cranmer 0 0-0 0; J. Brooks 0 0-0 0; Gill 3 0-0 6; Dwyer 4 1-4 9; Desmond 2 0-0 4; Duck 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 1-5 27.
TYRONE – Bradford 5 0-0 11; Roth 7 0-0 14; Stanton 1 0-0 2; Glace 0 0-0 0; Long 2 0-2 4; Walker 0 0-0 0; Benakovic 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 0-2 31.
Score by Quarters
C. MOUNTAIN 8 10 1 8 – 27
TYRONE 8 6 11 6 – 31
Three point goals: Central Mountain 0.
Tyrone 1 (Bradford 1).
