Tyrone junior Dylan Thomas’ run of five threes and 17 points in the second quarter turned the tide as the Eagles outscored the Dragons 19-3 in the frame on their way to an exciting 60-58 overtime win against rival Central.

“It was good to get in a groove and help my team out of the slow start that we got out to,” said Thomas on his big second quarter.

The Golden Eagles were on the road for the first time on Friday taking on rival Central and it is safe to say that the Eagles left the Scarlet Dragons stunned in an instant classic.

The first minutes of the game were all Central, as they jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. The margin reached as much as fourteen as the Dragons held a 16-2 lead with about a minute left in the first.

Then the Eagles went on a blistering run, fueled mostly by Thomas’ three point shots, and took a 26-19 lead into the half.

The Eagles went man during the second quarter after the Dragons shredded the zone in the first, and it seemed to help them tremendously.

Senior big man duo Mike Lewis and Alex Weaver continued to dominate inside as they both controlled the glass with ease.

The second half was quiet until about the two minute mark in the fourth. The Golden Eagles were leading and the game seemed to be in hand.

In the final quarter, the Eagles had a 50-48 lead with fifteen seconds left when Dragons senior Brandon Buchart drove baseline and kicked it to a cutting teammate for a layup to tie the game as time expired, sending the game to overtime.

Luckily for the Eagles they made plays when they needed to.

Junior Jake Meredith stole the ball and had a clear lane to the hoop, but was intentionally fouled from behind. This gave the Eagles two foul shots and the ball with a minute to go, trailing by three.

Meredith connected on one of two shots from the line and Thomas had another big three to give the Eagles the lead and the team made their foul shots down the stretch. The Dragons missed a game tying shot and the Eagles escaped with a come from behind win.

“It was a wimpy way out, but we benefitted from it, so I was ok with it,” said Meredith on the foul.

Head Coach George Gripp was happy with the big early season win and the fact that his team could battle back from such a large deficit.

“This is a tough place to play and it was like a playoff atmosphere,” said Gripp. “I thought both teams stood in there and made some tough plays, but in the end we just made a few more.”

BOX SCORE

TYRONE (60): Mitchell 4 4-4 12, Meredith 7 3-5 18, Lewis 1 0-0 2, Thomas 7 5-7 26, Weaver 0 2-2 2, Anderson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 14-18 60

CENTRAL (58): Dodson 5 6-7 16, J. Muthler 6 2-3 16, Buchart 4 4-4 12, Smith 3 2-4 8, Karstetter 2 1-3 6, Liebal 0 0-0 0, N. Muthler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 15-21 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone     7 19 14 10 10 – 60

Central     16 3 15 16  8  – 58

3-point goals: Tyrone 8 (Thomas 7, Meredith); Central 3 (Muthler 2, Karstetter).

Records: Tyrone (2-1); Central (1-2).

JV: Tyrone, 36-21.