In one of the most anticipated matchups of the regular season, the Golden Eagles took on the undefeated Greater Johnstown Trojans on Friday, January 31. It ended up being a close-fought matchup and the Eagles were edged out by the Trojans 59-46.
Tyrone played well but the star was Johnstown’s Boston University commit Donte Tisinger, who single-handedly took care of Tyrone with 27 points and multiple forced turnovers.
Johnstown’s Amir Robinson also had a strong game with 11 points and several key rebounds that shifted the momentum of the game.
Once again Sam Crilly led Tyrone with 15 points along with Drew Escala’s 15. Nobody else had points in the double digits for the Golden Eagles and that seemed to be the problem for them.
“They [Crilly and Escala] played a great game, but they shouldn’t have to be the only ones scoring. We [The rest of the team] need to step up and help them,” Tyrone senior Ashton Walk said.
Tyrone played well defensively, holding the high-powered Johnstown offense to 59 points, below their season average.
Based on the Golden Eagle’s offensive ability this should’ve led to a win since they are averaging well over 59 points per game, but they couldn’t seem to get anything to fall.
For most of the game, Tyrone was right behind the Trojans and kept it within a distance so they could get hot and take over but it never happened.
Tyrone got off to a slow start as Johnstown took a 17-9 lead in the first frame. Tyrone got better in the middle two quarters, but it was not enough to close the gap.
This loss was devastating for the Golden Eagles, a team that badly wanted to prove themselves as a top school in District VI AAA.
The game showed that they can keep it close with the best of the best and are improving every game in order to get where they want to be.
Tyrone’s record falls to 13-4 and Johnstown remains undefeated at 17-0.
Tyrone will take on the Williamsport Millionaires at home on Monday at 7:30 pm.
JOHNSTOWN (59): Tisinger 10 1-2 27, Am. Robinson 5 1-1 11, Alberter 0 0-0 0, Braswell 1 0-0 2, Armstrong 1 0-0 2, Carr 2 2-4 6, Ashcom 3 0-0 8, Au. Robinson 1 0-0 3. Totals — 23 4-7 59.
TYRONE (46): Crilly 6 2-4 15, A. Walk 2 0-0 4, Escala 5 2-2 15, Lehner 1 0-0 2, Woomer 2 0-0 5, Hamer 0 0-0 0, A. Emigh 1 3-4 5, M. Emigh 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 7-10 46.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Johnstown 17 16 15 11 — 59
Tyrone 9 13 17 7 — 46
3-point goals: Johnstown 9 (Tisinger 6, Ashcom 2, Au. Robinson); Tyrone 5 (Escala 3, Crilly, Woomer).
Records: Johnstown (17-0); Tyrone (13-4)