Outside of the district final, Friday was arguably one of the biggest high school basketball games in District 6 AAAA this season. The Central Dragons were coming in as the number one seed in AAAA with Tyrone being the number two seed.

In their last meeting, Tyrone won a nail-biter. Unfortunately for the hometown team, Tyrone fell short at the end this time, losing 56-52.

The first quarter was evenly matched. The Scarlet Dragons played fast and physical like they were expected to, which gave Central a slight 15-9 lead after the first.

Like most games for the Eagles, they start the game out in a zone defense. It usually contains teams but not stop them. After the first Tyrone stepped up and changed to a man defense.

Central also controlled the second quarter, despite the change in defenses for the Eagles. They held Tyrone’s high powered offense to two straight single digit scoring quarters. At the half Central lead Tyrone 29-17.

“Going into the half we knew we needed to step up. It was a Friday night game and we had a packed house. All of us knew the second half was going to be different,” said Meredith about the slow start.

Going into the third, Tyrone’s sharpshooter Deacon Thomas was held to 0 points. This is something that the Eagle hadn’t had all year.

In the third Tyrone finally broke single digit scoring finishing the quarter with 13 points. Unfortunately the Dragons offense also came alive with 16 in the quarter. Heading into the fourth the score was 45-30.

The fourth quarter was just what the Eagles wanted. They turned up their intensity and started to play as they wished they would have the entire game. The Golden Eagles outscored the Dragons 22-11 in the fourth and came within two at one point late in the quarter. Unfortunately the boys just ran out of time, losing 56-52.

Even with the loss, coach Gripp still saw some positives in his team.

“My guys never give up. Every time they step on the court I know we will have a chance to win, no matter how bad of a start they come out on,” said Gripp.

Tyrone has a tough task ahead of them, with Central Mountain on Monday, Huntington on Wednesday, and Clearfield on Friday.

CENTRAL (56): Dodson 7 3-9 17, J. Muthler 4 0-0 11, McKnight 4 2-7 10, Buchart 5 0-0 10, Karstetter 1 3-4 5, Smith 1 0-0 3, N. Muthler 0 0-0 0, Liebal 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 8-20 56.

TYRONE (52): Mitchell 5 2-4 15, Meredith 6 2-6 14, Weaver 0 1-2 1, Lewis 1 3-4 5, Thomas 5 3-4 17, Anderson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 11-20 52.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central    15 14 16 11 — 56

Tyrone    9 8 13 22 — 52

3-point goals: Central 4 (J. Muthler 3, Smith); Tyrone 7 (Thomas 4, Mitchell 3).

Officials: Dave Heim, Sean Albright, Tom Fontaine.

Records: Central (10-2); Tyrone (9-4).

JV: Tyrone, 47-39.