All Gampe-d Up
The Tyrone Golden Eagles boys basketball team had a heart-attack-worthy win last night, coming back from a 14 point halftime deficit to defeat the Bellefonte Red Raiders 55-54 on a Ross Gampe buzzer-beater.
“It was a great feeling, I’m glad my teammates trusted me to run that play and take the final shot,” said Gampe on his game-winning shot.
The last-minute of the game was full of more twists and turns than a Hollywood thriller.
The Golden Eagles were down three with :56 left when Tyrone senior Keegan Gwinn hit a top of the key jumper to cut Bellefonte’s lead to one.
Tyrone then fouled Bellefonte senior Nick Way, sending him to the line for a pair of successful free throws that put the Red Raiders up by three again with :40 left.
Tyrone senior Landen DeHaas hit a clutch floater with :25 seconds to make it a one-point game once again.
Bellefonte then had the ball with :22 seconds left and a chance to run the clock out or go to the line, but a travel by Bellefonte point guard DJ McCaslin, who was under defensive pressure from DeHaas, gave the Eagles the ball back with :17 left.
A Tyrone foul on the inbound pass put Bellefonte back on the line for a 1 and 1 with just 14.9 seconds left.
But Bellefonte’s Blair Eckley-Jones missed the free throw, and Tyrone drove down the court for the potential game winner.
Tyrone senior David Lang drove to the foul line and took the potential game winning jumper with 8 seconds left, but the shot was long. Bellefonte’s Eckley-Jones got the rebound but immediately stepped out of bounds, giving Tyrone the ball under their own hoop with just 3.7 seconds left.
On the inbound pass, Tyrone senior David Lang lofted the ball to Tyrone big man Ross Gampe in the paint.
Gampe took one dribble and put the game winning shot off the glass and through the hoop as time expired.
The atmosphere was electric in the gymnasium as Tyrone came out victorious and claimed first place in the Mountain League.
It was a great feeling, I’m glad my teammates trusted me to run that play and take the final shot
— Ross Gampe
Bellefonte’s Blair Eckley-Jones led all scorers with 23, 16 of which came in the first half, propelling the Red Raiders to a 38-24 lead at halftime.
Early in the game Tyrone’s man defense was not working, allowing 38 in the first half. At halftime, they switched to a 2-3 extended zone and only allowed 4 points in the third quarter as they chopped the Bellefonte lead all the way down to 9 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Thanks to numerous different presses and a mixture of 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 zone the Golden Eagles got the turnovers they needed and were scoring well on offense.
“We worked well as a team and had three people over 15 points which will really help us in the long run,” said DeHaas.
Dehaas and Ross Gampe each had 15 points and Keegan Gwinn had a game high of 16.
Tyrone is now 10-2 on the year and 6-1 in league play. The boys are back in action on Tuesday the 18th at home as they take on the only Mountain League team to defeat them this year, the Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers.
In their previous matchup, the Tigers came out victorious 61-60 in overtime. The Eagles are ready for revenge. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.
BOX SCORE
BELLEFONTE (54): Krdell 2 0-0 6, Way 3 5-6 11, Crissman 3 0-0 6, Brungard 1 0-0 2, McCaslin 2 0-0 6, Eckley-Jones 11 0-3 23. Totals — 22 5-9 55.
TYRONE (55): Lang 2 0-0 4, Rhoads 1 0-1 2, DeHaas 6 3-4 15, Gampe 6 3-5 15, Legars 0 1-2 1, Gwinn 6 4-6 16, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Ronan 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 11-18 55.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellefonte 16 22 4 12 — 54
Tyrone 14 10 9 22 — 55
3-point goals: Bellefonte 5 (Krdell 2, McCaslin 2, Eckley-Jones)
JV: Tyrone, 64-61. High scorers–Escala, T, 17.
Keegan Gwinn is in his first year in Eagle Eye, and is also a senior. His interests and hobbies are golfing, and sports. Plans after high school are to...
