The Tyrone Golden Eagles counted on a big game from Tyler Mertiff and a very strong fourth quarter to beat Bellefonte in their first meeting. After the first half of their Friday night game, it looked as though the Golden Eagles would have to rely on the same things to clinch a second victory over the Red Raiders. And although the visiting Eagles did receive a 34 point game from Mertiff, as well as a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, they were unable to avoid the 70-67 loss.
“It seems like every game those guys will score for us,” Tyrone Head Coach Mike Harris said of Mertiff and Brady Hoover, who combined for all but ten of the Golden Eagles’ points. But we have to find somebody else that will score for us.”
Both teams tallied 25 points in the first quarter, with Mertiff putting on an offensive clinic while Bellefonte’s Andy Gaebal and Nick Olson countered with pinpoint shooting. A minute into the contest Olson nailed his first of five three pointers to put his team up by one. After Tyrone scored the next six points of the game the two squads began alternating scores. As Mertiff was busy knocking down buckets all over the court, Bellefonte sank three more shots from behind the arc to deadlock the score going into the second quarter.
Mertiff scored 17 of his 34 points in the first quarter, with he and Hoover each reeling in seven boards for Tyrone.
In the second quarter Bellefonte’s offensive barrage continued, while Tyrone’s disappeared. The Red Raiders owned the first five minutes of the quarter, taking a large lead with an 11-0 run.
“Defensively we didn’t do the job,” Harris said of the Red Raider run, as well as the better part of the game. “We were leaving guys wide open. It looked like we just forgot how to play defense. That 11-0 run killed us.”
The run was ignited with a pair of threes, and Bellefonte’s third long ball of the quarter put them ahead 41-27. Tyrone outscored the Red Raiders 6-1 in the final minute of the quarter, but still faced a nine point deficit at the half.
In the third quarter the pace had slowed, with no team finding the hoop until Gaebal sank two buckets. Not surprisingly one of them was a three pointer, but Hoover countered nine seconds later by converting a three-point play for Tyrone. Hoover and Mertiff combined for back-to-back field goals to narrow the gap to eight, but Gaebal and Olson three pointers widened the Red Raider advantage to 54-41.
“It’s tough,” Harris commented on Bellefonte’s three pointers, which fell at all the right times for the home team. “We don’t have anybody that can consistently hit three-pointers, they have some guys who can stick the three.”
Wilson countered with four consecutive points for the Golden Eagles, and a Mertiff three-pointer at the buzzer cut the lead back to eight.
In typical Tyrone fashion, however, the Golden Eagles battled back. After Bellefonte increased their lead to ten after a pair of foul shots, Tyrone roared back with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 62.
“We need a whole game like that,” Harris stated when asked about his team’s late run to tie the contest. “The problem is, we need to put four quarters together.”
After Bellefonte’s Nate Vaughn converted a three-point play with two minutes left to regain the lead, Mertiff hit a foul shot and Hoover sank a field goal to tie the game with a minute remaining. However, Olson nailed his fifth three pointer of the game with 50 seconds left to go, and Vaughn drilled both one and one free throws with 26 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
Tyrone’s junior varsity squad also found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard, dropping their contest with Bellefonte 64-37. Kevin Hershberger led the jayvee Eagles with 11 points, while Bellefonte had three players score in double digits.
The Varsity Eagles are now even at 10-10, with their opening round playoff game set against Central on February 20th at the Hollidaysburg Junior High School.
Bellefonte 70- Tyrone 67
Score by Quarter
TYRONE 25 8 15 19 – 67
BELLEFONTE 25 7 14 14 – 70
Individual Scoring
Tyrone- Mertiff 13 6-8 34, Hoover 10 3-5 23, Ashcroft 1 0-0 2, Gummo 1 0-0 2, Wilson 2 2-4 6, Domenick 0 0-0 0.
Bellefonte- Vaughn 2 4-5 8, Settle 0 0-0 0, Curtis 3 0-2 8, Gaebal 7 1-2 19, Olson 7 1-1 20, Daughenbaugh 4 3-5 11, Klinefelter 2 0-0 4.
3-Point Goals: Tyrone- 2 (Mertiff 2); Bellefonte- 11 (Curtis 2, Gaebal 4, Olson 5)
