The 18-4 Tyrone Golden Eagle’s season came to an abrupt and unexpected end at the hands of the underdog Cambria Heights Highlanders in the first round of the District VI playoffs on Monday.

The 44-32 loss was nothing short of an enormous disappointment for the Eagles and their fans.

Tyrone was the 1st seed with a strong 18-3 record. Cambria Heights barely qualified for the playoffs with a 9-12 record and held the 16th and final seed in the tournament.

However, the field was very deep in AA this year and this may have been the best 16th seed the district playoffs have seen in a while.

Cambria Heights beat D6 AAA 1st seed Somerset earlier in the season and also pulled off a win against the 20-2 Homer-Center Wildcats, who sit in the 2nd seed in the A playoff bracket.

Compare that to some of the mediocre teams seeded higher than them in the playoffs, and it becomes apparent that Tyrone got the short straw.

That is not to say that the Eagles should not have won this game. Early in the second quarter, Tyrone was up 20-8. Everything seemed to be clicking. Defense was stout. Tyrone senior Shane Geis had back-to-back-to-back steals and each time was followed by a fruitful fast break. Shots were falling from anywhere. Senior guard Pooky Soellner hit his first three shots for Tyrone’s first 7 points. Tyrone was playing with confidence.

Then, like an engine that kicked itself out of gear, the Eagles stalled out. The Highlanders started chipping away at the lead, and on the other end of the court it looked as if Tyrone was a toddler hopelessly lost in Walmart. Shots weren’t falling. rebounds didn’t come easy. The team lacked fire.

The Eagles scored 20 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. At that pace, they should have finished with over 70 points.

After those first 20 points, the Golden Eagles shot 4 for 38… only 10.5%. They only scored 12 points in the last 22 minutes of the game.

Against Bald Eagle, perhaps Tyrone’s most memorable game, Tyrone scored 36 points in the fourth quarter alone. Against Cambria Heights, they scored 32 in the entire game.

“I just can’t believe it’s over. I can’t believe it ended like this. This never should have happened. But tonight just wasn’t our night,” said senior guard Pooky Soellner.

“I will never forget this group of seniors,” Head Coach George Gripp told the media after the loss. “They meant so much to Tyrone basketball. It’s just really tough to see it end this way.”

However, despite the disappointing loss Tyrone did have a season to remember. The Golden Eagles won the Mountain League for only the 7th time since the 50’s and 18-4 is a very respectable record.

Maybe the words of the legendary Billy Joel are most appropriate:

Only the good die young.

Box Score

CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (44): N. Milanesi 3 1-3 8, Serafin 4 4-4 14, Link 1 2-2 4, Kline 1 2-4 4, Ford 5 1-2 14, Kosicki 0 0-0 0, Huber 0 0-0 0. Totals – 14 10-15 44.

TYRONE (32): Geis 0 0-0 0, N. Soellner 4 0-0 10, Brooks 2 0-0 6, Lingafelt 2 1-2 6, A. Politza 0 4-4 4, Pr. Mitchell 3 0-0 6, Pa. Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Meredith 0 0-0 0. Totals – 11 5-6 32.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Cambria Heights:  6 7 16 15 – 44

Tyrone: 13 7 8 4 – 32

3-point goals:

Cambria Heights 6 (N. Milanesi, Ford 3, Serafin 2)

Tyrone 5 (N. Soellner 2, Brooks 2, Lingafelt).

Records: Cambria Heights (10-12); Tyrone (18-4).