The Golden Eagles beat the Central Scarlet Dragons by a score of 56-53 on Friday, December 15, but they were extremely fortunate to come away with a win.

“We had way too many turnovers and lost opportunities. That was the difference between winning by 20 and winning in OT,” said Coach George Gripp after Tyrone’s overtime win over Central.

As coach Gripp said, turnovers almost killed the Eagles. Add to that some controversial officiating along with a poor shooting night, and the Eagles almost lost a game that they felt should not have been close.

Central’s Joey Smith caused all sorts of problems for the Golden Eagles. His athleticism and quickness snagged his share of steals and crashed the boards when he could. The Golden Eagles had talked about keeping him off the glass and away from the ball, but it was a lot easier said than done.

Senior Parker Mitchell finished with a game-high 22 points, and senior Dylan Thomas finished with twenty. Thomas had six threes in this game, but don’t let that fool you. It wasn’t a very good shooting night for either team.

“We were lucky to come away with the win,” added senior Jacob Meredith.

Looking forward, the Golden Eagles have a tough week. They face off with Richland on Monday, one of the best teams in the area. On Wednesday they play Mountain League rival Huntingdon, and they close out their week with an away game at Mount Union.

BOX SCORE

TYRONE (56): Mitchell 9 4-4 22, Meredith 3 1-1 8, Lucas 0 0-0 0, Gripp 0 0-0 0, Hoover 1 1-3 4, Hicks 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 0 2-6 2, Thomas 6 2-2 20, Politza 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 10-16 56.

CENTRAL (53): Karstetter 5 0-0 11, Williams 1 0-0 3, Smith 7 5-9 19, Albright 5 3-4 13, Muthler 2 0-0 5, Klotz 0 2-2 2, Kitt 0 0-0 0, Liebal 0 0-0 0. Totals — 20 10-15 53.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 16 11 5 18 6 — 56

Central 12 10 14 14 3– 53

3-point goals: Tyrone 8 (Meredith, Hoover, Thomas 6); Central 3 (Karstetter, Williams, Muthler).

Records: Tyrone (3-0); Central (2-2).

JV: Tyrone won, no score reported.