The Tyrone girl’s basketball team improved their record to 18-3 overall (13-0 in the Mountain League) with a 64-49 victory over the Penns Valley Lady Rams on Tuesday and senior standout Kasey Engle put an exclamation point on her amazing basketball career by becoming the all time leading scorer in Tyrone basketball history.

Tyrone benefited from a big defensive second quarter, along with a balanced scoring attack.  After being up just one point, 16-15, at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Eagles started to light up offensively and defensively.  In the second frame alone, they managed to put up 20 points, while holding the Rams to only 4.

The balanced offensive attack was led by four players who reached double figures. Engle led the Lady Eagles with 21 points, while Sydney Shaw netted 15.  Alexis Cannistraci and Emily Lehman added 11 and 10.

“I thought that we played very well as a team, and that it is games like those that are preparing us for playoff games,” said Shaw, who sparked the Lady Eagles in the second quarter.

With a scrappy, tough defensive team like Penns Valley, the Lady Eagles definitely viewed this game as a test and preparation for playoffs.  With the ball movement displayed in this win, along with a reduction of careless turnovers down the stretch, Coach Luke Rhoades definitely feels his team could make a long run this year towards the ultimate goal.

“The effort we gave in the first half is the effort we are going to need when the playoffs do come around,” said Rhoades.

In the second half, Engle passed Tyrone basketball legend Nick Leasure’s 1975 record of 1,757 career points. She had already passed Sarah Grazier’s girls record of 1,562 points earlier in the season.

“Nick Leasure had a tremendous basketball career here and in college, so for her to pass him is a great honor,” said Tyrone Head Coach Luke Rhoades, “Kasey has worked extremely hard and for her to break a record that has stood for over 42 years is a true testament.”

So far, the effort that the Eagles have shown for the majority of the season has earned them their fourth straight Mountain League title.  More impressively, they will be heading into the District 6 AAA Playoffs as the overall number one seed.  

Tyrone will finish off their regular season with a “senior night” home game on Friday, February 10, against Bald Eagle Area.  Junior Varsity will tip off at 6:00 p.m., and Varsity will begin at 7:15 p.m. The Lady Eagles hope to end the regular season on a good note, and finish undefeated in the Mountain League.

BOX SCORE

Tyrone    16 20 13 15 — 64

Penns Valley    15  4  20 10 — 49

TYRONE (64): Mountz 0 0-0 0, Kosoglow 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Fusco 0 0-0 0, Ronan 1 0-0 2, Wagner 2 1-2 5, Engle 6 6-9 21, Cannistraci 3 5-8 11, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Shaw 5 4-4 15, Welsh 0 0-0 0, Lehman 4 2-2 10. Totals — 21 18-25 64.

PENNS VALLEY (49): Butler 1 2-2 4, Culver 2 4-5 8, Kubalak 3 3-4 9, Beamesderfer 3 0-0 6, Homan 2 0-0 4, Brown 0 0-0 0, Andrus 7 0-2 14, Montminy 1 2-5 4. Totals — 19 11-18 49.

3-point goals:

Tyrone: 4 (Engle 3, Shaw)

Penns Valley: none.

Records: Tyrone (18-3); Penns Valley (12-7).

JV: Tyrone, 28-27. High scorers–Kelsey Johnson, T, 9; Lieb, PV, 8.