The plan for Tyrone last night in the consolation game of the District 6-AAA playoffs was to get a lead and force Indian Valley to disregard its patient, screen-heavy offense.
The problem for the Lady Eagles was no lead was ever big enough to force the Lady Warriors to panic.
Valley responded to every Tyrone run with a push of its own and outscored the Lady Eagles 6-1 in the final 1:20 of the game to win 42-39 and advance to the PIAA playoffs for the eighth time in school history.
Tyrone, meanwhile, ended its season in the same fashion for the third consecutive season – with a loss in the AAA consolation game. The Lady Eagles finished their season at 15-11.
The Nature of the loss caused coach Jim Swaney to critically examine his performance.
“We’ve had a lot of talent over the last couple of years and we haven’t gotten over that hump,” said Swaney. “I’ve got to step back and look at what I’m doing. It’s inexcusable that we haven’t played in Inter-Districts in the last four years and I’m the guy to blame for that.”
Swaney was visibly upset when praising his senior class for their performance in their final game. He felt particularly bad for Marie DelBaggio, whose career ended like a Greek tragedy.
The 6-0 senior was on the foul line with 8.1 seconds left and Tyrone trailing by two, 40-38. She missed the first and made the second giving her 999 points for her career. She fouled out one second later and Tyrone never got off another shot.
DelBaggio finished with a game-high 18 points and 18 rebounds.
“I feel very bad for Marie DelBaggio,” said Indian Valley coach Roger Herto. “This win was bitter sweet for us in many ways. Jim Swaney is a good friend and this is the second year in a row we’ve beaten them in the consolation game. I told him afterwards, let’s never do this again.”
The Lady Warriors (16-11) now advance to face the winner of the WPIAL Class AAA championship between North Catholic and Moon.
Tyrone led 38-36 with 1:20 to play when Valley senior Jen Quay muscled her way between two defenders for a layup that tied the game. She was fouled by DelBaggio in the process and her foul shot gave Valley a 39-38 lead with 56 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles turned the ball over on their next possession and Valley’s Shellenberger made one of two at the charity stripe to put IV ahead 40-38.
“Marie did a great job of defending Quay tonight,” said Swaney. “She only lost her that one time and Quay made a great shot. That’s what great players do. Our seniors battled tonight. I couldn’t ask for any more of them.”
Defensively, Tyrone was sharp, particularly in the first half. The Lady Eagles limited Valley to just five points in the first quarter and 13 in the half while building a five-point halftime lead (18-13).
Marie DelBaggio hit a three-pointer at 2:04 of the first quarter to cap a 7-0 run as Tyrone built a 9-2 advantage and in the second quarter Amber DelBaggio scored on a back door cut at the 2:11 mark to end a 5-0 run that had the Lady Eagles up five.
But in between, Valley pieced together an 8-2 run in the second quarter that tied the score at 13 midway through and kept the Lady Warriors within striking distance.
“We didn’t play our A, B or C game tonight, but we found a way,” said Herto. “For us to have only 13 points at halftime and be down by just five was the key.”
Marie DelBaggio canned her second three-pointer at 6:55 of the third to lift Tyrone to a 23-16 lead, but again Valley answered, this time running off nine straight points over a three minute span to go ahead 25-23. Lauren Schaaf got it started with a conventional three-point play and Shellenberger kept it going by scoring six in a row. The teams were tied at 27 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Eagles led twice in the final period – once on a Turner jumper from the foul line (35-34) and again when Marie DelBaggio powered home a rebound (37-35).
In the end, no lead was ever big enough for Tyrone to keep Valley at bay.
“If we got a lead we thought we could make them hurry and they’re not as good when they hurry as when they’re patient,” said Swaney. “At times, we didn’t play like a strong team. There were times when we didn’t box out or finish on the inside.”
Turner finished with 10 points and 13 boards. Shellenberger was Valley’s lone player in double figures with 14, but six other Lady Warriors cracked the scoring column, with Quay and Schaaf combining for 15.
HOOP NOTES: Amber and Marie DelBaggio, Turner, Lauren Haag and Amanda Bryan all graduate this spring….Tyrone turned the ball over 22 times….Turner ended her career with 978 points … Tyrone again shot poorly from in the paint, missing out on several opportunities early to break the game open. During one three minute stretch in the first quarter, Tyrone missed seven layups.
Indian Valley 43, Tyrone 39
TYRONE – M. DelBaggio 7 2-6 18; Turner 3 4-4 10; Haag 1 0-0 2; A. DelBaggio 3 0-1 6; McKenna 1 1-4 3; McNelis 0 0-0 0; Wallace 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 7-14 39.
INDIAN VALLEY – Hartman 1 4-4 6; Shellenberger 6 2-6 14; Harlacher 1 0-0 2; Mitchell 0 3-4 3; Quay 3 1-1 8; Tewksbury 1 0-0 2; Schaaf 2 3-5 7. TOTALS: 14 13-20 43.
TYRONE 9 9 9 12 – 39
INDIAN VALLEY 5 8 14 15 – 43
Three-point goals: Tyrone 2 (M. DelBaggio 2), Indian Valley 1 (Quay 1)
