Its difficult to beat a good team once, let alone three times in season.  That was the task in front of the Lady Eagles as they took the court vs Penns Valley in the second round of the District Six AA playoffs on Thursday, February 19 at Huntingdon Area High School.

The game was close and hard fought, but the difference maker may have been the Lady Eagles performance at the foul line, where they made 18 of 22 on their way to a 46-40 victory.

“We started off slow,” said girls basketball coach Luke Rhoades, “But stuck to our game plan and didn’t panic and we were able to get the win against a very tough team.”

Unlike the previous two matchups, the Rams pressed the Eagles from the first quarter on.  Initially, they found some success with the press as they went into the locker room up by two, 23-21.

But the press resulted in a lot of fouls for the Rams, forcing the Eagles for 22 shots.

In contrast to the Eagles great performance from the foul line, The Lady Rams were only 13 for 23 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Kasey Engle led the Lady Eagles and went 14-15 herself from the foul line, and ended the game with 21 points.

“We started off kind of slow, but found a way to pull out the win,” said Engle.

In the beginning of the second half, the turnovers all went in the Lady Eagles’ favor.

Sophomore Alexis Cannistraci and Engle started the half off with a combined total of 8 points giving the Lady Eagles’ the lead 29-23.

Junior Finnley Christine scored five of her ten points in the last five minutes of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Penns Valley had another big run of 10 points, but the Lady Eagles were able to match it.

The Lady Eagles’ next opponent is the Bellwood-Antis Lady Devils. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, but the place and time are still TBA.

“Hopefully, we come out strong against Bellwood, and win again,” said Engle.

BOX SCORE

PENNS VALLEY (40): Ripka 1 2-5 4, Ilgen 2 2-4 6, Ironside 5 2-4 12, Miller 3 1-4 7, Orndorf 3 0-0 6, Swartz 0 5-6 5, Houser 0 0-0 0, Bierly 0 0-0 0.

Totals – 14 12-23 40.

TYRONE (46): Kemp 2 0-1 4, Christine 3 4-5 10, Engle 3 14-15 21, Cannistraci 2 0-1 4, Sprankle 0 0-0 0, Lehman 1 0-0 2, Noll 2 0-0 5, Wagner 0 0-0 0.

Totals – 13 18-22 46.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penns Valley: 12 11 7 10 – 40

Tyrone: 7 14 15 10 – 46

3-point goals:

Tyrone: 2 (Engle, Noll).

Penns Valley: 0

Records: Penns Valley (13-10); Tyrone (19-4).