The Golden Eagles improved to 5-0 last night with a 75-53 win at Clearfield, dealing with adversity for the first time this season. However, they responded well in the second half despite an awful first half display.
The Golden Eagles so far have come into the season hot on offense and intense on defense, but it didn’t look that way in the first half against Clearfield on Monday. Poor defensive intensity and a lack of establishing a halfcourt offense snowballed into a lack of defensive rebounding and even transition offense. The shots weren’t falling for the golden eagles which didn’t help matters either.
Tyrone jumped up to a 20-13 lead at the end of the first but the struggles on offense and lack of intensity questioned what Tyrone’s identity could be this season.
Continuing on, early foul trouble for Ashton Walk and Kendall Lehner resulted in Landon Hamer, Trent Adams, and Mason Emigh stepping up in their places to pick up some momentum and try to build onto a lead, but it was Clearfield who had the momentum. The Bison outscored the Golden Eagles 12-7 in the second quarter and gave them all the power going into the half. Tyrone held a 27-25 advantage at halftime.
In the locker room, Head Coach Luke Rhoads asked what this team wants to be remembered for.
With some inspiration from the coaches and Senior leadership, the boys came out of half time looking like a completely new team compared to the team the fans saw for the first sixteen minutes of playtime.
Seniors Sam Crilly and Kendall Lehner controlled the second half of offense where the duo ended with 20 points at the final buzzer.
Lehner scored 19 of his 20 in the second half alone.
“I think the ability to prove to ourselves that we can overcome adversity this early in the season is crucial to our success going forward, and will help the players and coaches stay composed in tight situations.” Said senior Kendall Lehner.
Strong full court defense and hustle from Drew Escala forced Clearfield to take tough shots and generate turnovers that helped push the ball up the floor in transition. Clearfield who was destined to shut down the shooting game for the golden eagles became vulnerable inside that set up layups and three point plays for Drew Escala and Kendall Lehner.
Eli Woomer and Sam Crilly were still able to find their shots despite the tough matchup. Woomer and Crilly hit three 3-pointers each and helped the golden eagles to push up to a 20 point lead early in the fourth.
The big factor to the second half success on offense was due to the renewed intensity on defense that allowed the golden eagles to pull away from the bison in the second half.
Despite the improved showing in the second half, Coach Rhoades still wanted the team to reflect on the negatives and make that a focus going forward. “I don’t think we came out and played with the intensity we needed to and I don’t think we did a good job in recognizing who their scorers were, we as a team need to understand the level we need to play at if we want to accomplish our goals”.
Point Guard Braison Patrick Led the bison with 27 points, Proving to the golden eagles that there is much work to be done in order to reach their goals.
Senior Sam Crilly noted, “We came out slow in the first half but picked it up in the second half and finished the game strong”
Tyrone now improves to 5-0, and will host the Claysburg-Kimmel Bulldogs in the first round of the Reliance Bank Holiday Tournament on Friday 12/27. Tip-off is at 7:30 PM
TYRONE (75): Crilly 7 3-4 20, A. Walk 1 1-1 3, Escala 4 1-1 9, Lehner 7 6-8 20, Woomer 3 0-0 9, Adams 1 2-2 4, A. Emigh 0 0-0 0, Hamer 2 0-1 4, M. Emigh 1 0-0 3, Novak 0 0-0 0, Dasher 0 0-0 0, Harpster 1 0-0 3. Totals – 27 13-17 75.
CLEARFIELD (53): Collins 2 0-0 4, Ev. Maines 6 2-2 15, Patrick 9 4-6 27, Kaskin 0 1-2 1, Lynch 0 1-2 1, Rumfola 0 0-0 0, Broad 0 2-2 2, Ea. Maines 1 0-0 3. Totals – 18 11-14 53.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 20 7 19 29 – 75
Clearfield 13 12 14 14 – 53
3-point goals: Tyrone 8 (Crilly 3, Woomer 3, Emigh, Harpster); Clearfield 6 (Patrick 4, Ev. Maines, Ea. Maines).
Records: Tyrone (5-0); Clearfield (1-4).
JV: Clearfield, 48-36. High scorers–Parsons, T, 14; Curry, C, 16.
