“Watching this group through the years, one thing that has always stood out to me was the unselfishness. Every player on the team is willing to make the extra pass to get a teammate a better shot. That is a characteristic of a very good team,” said Tyrone boys basketball Coach George Gripp.

Gripp is talking about his 18-3 Mountain League Champion squad this year, which has already made a name for itself as a very special team.

There are few teams today that play a selfless brand of basketball anymore, but it seems to be working for the Golden Eagles. Not only are they Mountain League Champs, they also have earned 1st seed in District 6 AA playoffs.

“We bond like C3H5N3O9 (Nitroglycerin) cause we’re dynamite,” junior forward Tony Politza joked when asked what makes his team so special.

Politza may be joking around, but he is right. Tyrone is simply explosive on the court. There are few teams that can put on as big of a show in high school basketball.

“Our team chemistry is kind of like a school of fish. We always swim together and we eat other fish,” senior guard Blake Brooks said.

I don’t really know what to take from that, but I suppose he may be on to something. Senior guard Pooky Soellner elaborated further on this claim.

“We’ve been playing together for God knows how long. We are all best buds having a lot of fun this year kicking butt. I seriously love all these guys,” Soellner added.

“I think the reason we are doing so well is the fact that we’ve been playing together since third grade. We know how to play with each other,” senior forward Tristan Lingafelt said.

There is something to be said for a starting five that knows exactly where everyone else on the floor is without even looking. Sometimes it seems like point guard Shane Geis and guards Pooky Soellner and Blake Brooks have eyes on the backs of their heads, flinging passes across the court to their impossibly open teammates. The only reasonable explanation is that these guys just know each other.

“We all hang out every day, whether it is basketball season or not. When we are in games it just kinda feels like we are hanging out,” senior big man Preston “Diddy” Mitchell said.

“I love all of these guys. It is crazy to think that these are our last few games together. We just want to make the most of these memories before we can’t play together anymore,” said Geis.

Regardless of how good their team chemistry is, the Golden Eagles will need a little extra to accomplish their goal of a district title. They play 16th seeded Cambria Heights on Monday, February 16th at the Altoona high school gym.

This is their last guaranteed game. If they win, they will move on and likely play Westmont Hilltop, a team that gave Tyrone its second loss of the season. Tyrone has bad blood with the Hilltoppers, so this one should be an interesting one if both teams are fortunate enough to make it that far.