Despite keeping the margin in single digits for most of the game, the Lady Eagles struggled with foul trouble and were outscored every quarter in a 56-40 season-opening loss to Punxsutawney at home on Tuesday.
Head Coach Mike Whitling thought the girls played with effort in his first game leading the Lady Eagles, but added that they still have plenty of room for improvement.
“I thought we battled with a very good experienced team. Our defense was physical and we played with an edge. We need to continue to work on scoring in different ways out of our offenses and taking care of the ball. Very pleased with our first outing but we need to clean up a few things,” Whitling said.
Tyrone sophomore guard Alayna Woomer fouled out midway through the third quarter, and Tyrone had trouble keeping up with a Punxsutawney team that made their foul shots and played tough defense.
Senior Bree Paul led the Lady Eagles with 14 points, and junior Alayna Greene had 10.
Punxy’s Emily Dobbins was the game’s overall high scorer with 19 points, and Danielle Griebel had 13 for the visiting Lady Chucks.
Tyrone never led, but kept the score close until the final quarter.
In the first minute of the game, Punxsatauny’s Dobson put up an early 3, but Tyrone responded by getting the ball to Alayna Greene for a layup. However, on the next possession, Punxsatawny made another three to increase their lead to 6-2.
By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Chucks had opened up a 5-point lead on the Lady Eagles, 14-9.
Punxy played tight defense, especially on Woomer, who is a threat for the Lady Eagles due to her ability to finish around the basket and from beyond the 3-point arc.
Coming out in the second quarter, Punxy’s Danielle Griebel kicked the ball out to high-scorer Emily Dobbins for the first 3 points of the quarter.
Punxsutawney was effective from beyond the arc, with Dobbins making five of the Lady Chucks nine threes.
Tyrone battled and was able to close the gap to 6 points by the end of the second quarter. The Lady Eagles went into the locker room trailing 28-22.
Midway through the third quarter, with Woomer out of the game on fouls, Punxy was able to take control and extend its lead to 10 by the end of the third, and increased their margin of victory to 16 by the final buzzer.
Despite the loss, senior Rily Corl said the girls know what they need to work on and they feel like they have a good foundation to build on for the season.
“I think we played well as a team, everyone did their part the best they could. I think we still need to work on our communication and realize when to change things up,” said Corl.
The Lady Eagles are back on the court tonight for another home game against the 1-1 Penns Valley Rams. Varsity tip-off is at 7:30 pm in the middle school gym.
BOX SCORE
PUNXSUTAWNEY (56): O. Burkett 3 0-0 9, D. Greibel 2 8-10 13, McMahon 1 3-4 5, Powell 4 2-3 10, Dobbins 5 4-4 19, N. Burkett 0 0-2 0, Doverspike 0 0-2 0. Totals — 15 17-25 56.
TYRONE (40): Corl 3 0-0 6, Paul 5 0-0 14, Greene 4 2-4 10, Woomer 3 3-4 9, Crowell 0 0-0 0, Parker 0 1-2 1, Lehman 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 6-10 40.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Punxsutawney 14 14 12 16 — 56
Tyrone 9 13 10 8 — 40
3-point goals: Punxsutawney 9 (O. Burkett 3, D. Greibel 1, E. Dobbins 5); Tyrone 4 (B. Paul 4).
Records: Punxsutawney (3-0); Tyrone (0-1).
