The Tyrone Golden Eagles went into Sidman hoping to punch their ticket to the District 6 championship game at Mt. Aloysius. Unfortunately, Tyrone could not stop a talented Forest Hills offense that was shooting lights out.

The Golden Eagles still had 3 double-digit scorers in the game. Andrew Escala with 14 and Kendall Lehner and Ashton Walk with 11, but Tyrone’s defense was not able to stop or even slow down Forest Hills’ shooting attack.

The Rangers had two players with over 20 points and two more in the double digits.

Forest Hills knocked down 11 threes that paved the way for The Rangers to keep the game out of reach for Tyrone.

“They weren’t missing. Everything they threw up dropped in,” said senior Brady Ronan.

The first quarter featured good basketball from both teams. The first couple of minutes the two teams were trading shots, but before long the Golden Eagles just couldn’t keep up. The Rangers went on a 12-point run and closed out the first quarter with a 15-point lead.

In the second quarter the Rangers continued their tear and eventually got up by 30 points. Forest Hills missed 2 shots the entire quarter and the score showed.

Tyrone was able to shave Forest Hills lead down with a Dravyn Crowell Layup and a couple free throws from Ashton walk, to make the game 50-26 going into halftime.

With a District Championship appearance on the line, the Golden Eagles knew that they would have to shut the Rangers down the rest of the game and hit more shots.

Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. Andrew Escala and Sam Crilly started to show off their shooting ability and knocked down some threes that shorted the lead. The Tyrone offense was starting to come together but The Rangers offense was on fire. Tyrone was playing solid defense, they were getting hands in the shooter’s faces and closing out. Forest Hills simply couldn’t miss.

When the fourth quarter rolled around Tyrone was down by 22 points. A couple minutes in, a key defender for The Golden Eagles, Ashton Walk, fouled out.

Another physical defender Brady Ronan picked up his 4th foul and had to play very conservatively. Forest Hills took advantage of The Golden Eagles’ losses and continued to shoot the lights out. Tyrone and Forest Hills put in their bench players to finish the rest of the game.

Although this is a tough loss for Tyrone, their season isn’t over.

They will take on The Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders in District 6 3rd place at Bishop Guilfoyle on Friday 3/1 at 7 pm. The winner of this game will advance to the state playoffs.

BOX SCORE

TYRONE (63): Crilly 3 0-0 8, Escala 4 4-6 14, Walk 3 4-4 11, Lehner 4 2-2 11, Crowell 3 0-0 6, Woomer 3 0-0 8, Ronan 0 3-4 3, Parsons 0 0-0 0, Dasher 0 0-0 0, M. Emigh 1 0-0 2, A. Emigh 0 0-0 0, Oakes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-16 63.

FOREST HILLS (92): K. McGough 7 2-2 21, Stohon 10 5-6 25, S. McGough 6 2-2 19, Gregovich 8 2-5 18, Williamson 1 0-0 3, Gabany 1 0-0 2, Gramling 0 0-0 0, Edmondson 2 0-0 4, Myers 0 0-0 0, Shutty 0 0-0 0, Tokarsky 0 0-0 0, Schilling-Mansour 0 0-0 0, Vitez 0 0-0 0, Gay 0 0-0 0. Totals: 35 11-15 92.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 12 14 20 17 — 63
Forest Hills 27 23 19 23 — 92

3-point field goals: Tyrone 8 (Crilly 2, Escala 2, Woomer 2, Walk, Lehner); Forest Hills 11 (K. McGough 5, S. McGough 5, Williamson).
Records: Tyrone (17-7); Forest Hills (20-4).