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Ellie Oakes

Jaida Parker

The Tyrone Lady Eagles playoff run ended Wednesday night with a heartbreaking 45-39 loss to the Southmoreland Scotties.

The game was a defensive battle to the end with the two teams trading the lead at least once each quarter.

Tyrone led 8-6 after one and after several lead changes in the second, Southmoreland took a 2 point 19-17 lead into halftime. After three quarters, Tyrone was up 32-31 and it was clear that the game would come down to the wire.

“Really, a couple of key possessions. You take two or three possessions in a game like this, shots that should have went in, or opportunities we should have got didn’t go, and that was the difference in the game,” said Tyrone Head Coach Luke Rhoades.

The Scotties’ size proved to be a struggle for the Lady Eagles, whose offense was held to just 39 points. Tyrone senior Jaida Parker led all scorers with 21 points, followed by senior Stephanie Ramsey with 8.

“I thought we played hard the entire game. We just didn’t connect on shots when we needed to. Defensively we executed the way we had planned. Unfortunately, a girl stepped up and hit a key three late in the game,” said Head Coach Luke Rhoades.

Southmoreland took a 35-32 lead with 5:15 left in the fourth on a three-point field goal. Tyrone played from behind for the rest of the game, coming within one point when Senior Emma Getz connected on two free throws to make it 35-34.

“We’re not used to such a physical game,” said Southmoreland Head Coach Amber Cernuto. “Tyrone, they really box out hard. They go back to the fundamentals, they work hard. So it was a different game for us and at halftime, we had to relax and adjust and get into that mentality of going after every ball.”

With just 1:06 left the Lady Eagles were down by just 3, 40-37. That’s when junior Kayelin Gibbons got a clutch steal in the defensive zone that gave the Lady Eagles the inbound.

However, Tyrone senior Jaida Parker was called out of bounds on a controversial call right in front of the Tyrone bench, giving possession back to Southmoreland.

Tyrone was forced to foul to get possession back and the Scotties took advantage, outscoring Tyrone 5 to 2 in the final minute to seal the win.

With this loss, the Lady Eagles finished their outstanding 2021-22 campaign at 21-2.

The loss was hard for Tyrone’s senior-led team whose goal this season was no less than a trip to Hershey, but Rhoades siad that he was proud of his team for leaving everything on the floor and was not disappointed in their performance at all.

“(Southmoreland) might be the fourth seed out of there, but that’s because of the way the WPIAL does their seeding. That’s a really good team, one of the top teams in the state with their size, and length and strength,” said Rhoades.

The game marked the end for Tyrone seniors Jadia Parker, Stephanie Ramsey, Emma Getz, and Marissa Lewis who have broken more records than any group in school history.

Over the past four seasons, the Lady Eagles have maintained an 81% winning average, with 77 wins and 18 losses.

“This senior class will go down as the most accomplished group of seniors in Lady Eagle basketball history. They have continued the tradition we have worked hard to build here and they have set a high standard with their work ethic and commitment that we want to continue as long as I am coaching here,” said Coach Rhoades.

Together they won three Mountain League Championships, qualified for states each of their four years, made it further in the state tournament than any other girls basketball team in school history, and won back to back District 6 Championships for the first time in Tyrone Basketball history – girls or boys.

In their senior season, they only lost two games, and one of them was avenged in the last game of the regular season to clinch a share of the Mountian League title.

This graduating class also produced two career 1,000 point scorers, Parker and Ramsey. All four seniors, Emma Getz, Marissa Lewis, Jaida Parker, and Stephanie Ramsey are starters and all contributed heavily to the team’s success over the past four years.

“I think we really had a great year and it’s sad that it had to end. These girls worked so hard and became such a close group and really understood what we wanted to do as a program,” said Rhoades.

Parker will continue her basketball career at Millersville University. Both Ramsey and Getz are still considering their college options and may play at the collegiate level as well.

Box Score:

SOUTHMORELAND (45): Morvosh 0 4-4 4, Doppelheuer 0 0-0 0, Cernuto 6 5-6 18, E. Pawlikowsky 0 0-0 0, Spadaro 5 4-5 15, Moore 1 0-0 2, Carson 2 0-0 6. Totals — 14 13-15 45.

TYRONE (37): Lewis 0 0-0 0, Ramsey 2 2-2 8, Getz 1 3-4 5, Parker 5 9-11 21, Gibbons 2 1-1 5, Paul 0 0-0 0. Totals — 10 15-18 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Southmoreland 6 13 12 14 — 45

Tyrone 8 9 15 7 — 39

3-point goals: Southmoreland 4 (Cernuto, E. Pawlikowsky, Carson 2); Tyrone 4 (Ramsey 2, Parker 2).

Records: Southmoreland (19-4); Tyrone (21-2).

Officials: Joe Schalabba, Bryan James, Denny Stewart