Some last minute heroics from sophomore Mia Kosoglow propelled the Lady Eagles to a nail biting first round 47-46 victory over visiting Ligonier Valley on Tuesday evening in Tyrone.

On a night when scoring leader Sydney Shaw had a difficult time scoring points, it took a steal and layup from Kosoglow to give the Eagles a one point lead when it was needed most.

Ligonier Valley looked to have the game under control with 54 seconds left when they took a 46-42 lead. But Shaw knocked down a clutch three to get the Lady Eagles to within a point.

During the following trip down the court for Ligonier Valley, sophomore Mia Kosoglow’s aggressive defense allowed her to steal the ball. She never looked back beating two defenders guarding the rim and getting a tough layup to roll over the front of the rim, giving the Lady Eagles a 47-46 lead with 23 seconds remaining. 

“If I’m being honest, I thought that last one was rolling out off the front of the rim. When it magically rolled the other way, it was a huge sigh of relief, like all our hard work was paying off,” said Kosoglow, “We still had a game to play though, so I felt putting us up gave us some hope and energy to pull out the last 30 seconds of the game.”

The Lady Eagles had only two scorers in double figures, with Shaw and Kosoglow both scoring 11 points.

However they had other players who provided good performances in a low scoring defensive battle. Senior Emily Lehman added 8 points and many key rebounds.

The first quarter was a stalemate with neither team being able to pull ahead. The first quarter came to a close with the Lady Eagles holding a slim 9-8 lead.

The second quarter provided a little more offense than the first, but once again the quarter ended with both teams standing toe to toe. Ligonier Valley looked as if they would hold a lead going into the half but a Kosoglow miss was collected by Ronan who got the follow up shot to go down, tying the game at 19.

The third quarter provided the same level of excitement and competitiveness as the first half. It looked as if the Lady Eagles were going to be able to pull ahead toward the end of the third frame, but Ligonier Valley clawed their way back up to tie the Lady Eagles 35-35.

The fourth quarter failed to disappoint with both teams going back and forth for the entire quarter. Neither team was able to gain any momentum against the other team’s win or go home defensive mindset.

Ligonier Valley tried to take the lead, but airballed a three giving the Lady Eagles possession. The Lady Eagles could not convert the free-throws keeping the score 47-46 with 6 seconds left in the game.

After Kosoglow’s steal and put-away, Ligonier Valley attempted to get a final shot up to win the game, but a stellar defensive play by Emily Lehman put a stop to that blocking the ball and securing the victory, sending the Lady Eagles to the second round of the playoffs.  

With the victory on Tuesday, the Lady Eagles will travel to Juniata on Friday, looking to keep their season and district championship hopes alive.

BOX SCORE

LIGONIER VALLEY (46): Jester 3 0-0 7, Petrof 5 1-3 11, Horrell 0 0-1 0, Lynn 4 2-2 14, Boyd 3 3-4 12, Sheriff 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0-0 2. Totals – 16 6-10 46.

TYRONE (47): Kosoglow 5 1-2 11, Fusco 1 0-2 3, Wagner 1 3-4 5, Sy. Shaw 5 0-1 11, Lehman 2 4-5 8, Ronan 2 0-2 4, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Sh. Shaw 2 0-0 5. Totals – 18 8-16 47.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Ligonier Valley 8 11 16 11 — 46

Tyrone 9 10 16 12 — 47

3-point goals: Ligonier Valley 8 (Lynn 4, Boyd 3, Jester); Tyrone 3 (Fusco, Sy. Shaw, Sh. Shaw).

Records: Ligonier Valley (11-13); Tyrone (15-8).