The Golden Eagles came into their season opener with much hype and anticipation for a District VI Championship.
It’s just one game, but the Golden Eagles made a strong statement last night against Penns Valley.
“I liked how we played defensively for the first game, we still have a lot of areas that need improvement but if we play hard and aggressively those things can be worked through,” Tyrone Head Coach Luke Rhoades said.
Tyrone won 69-41 with senior Sam Crilly leading all scorers with 16 points and 4 three-pointers. Senior Kendall Lehner and junior Eli Woomer followed with 11 points each.
Woomer caught fire in the second quarter, making 3 three-pointers in a row.
The unsung hero of the game was senior Landon Hamer, racking up multiple rebounds and assists white putting up 6 points of his own and playing solid defense.
Crilly had a stand-out game and saw a style of play that he liked from the team.
“We need to play like that every game,” Crilly said. “We had a fast-pace of play [tonight]. We played as a [cohesive] team.”
The first half consisted of a high paced Golden Eagle offense that stemmed from their full court press that Coach Rhoades implemented this season.
Tyrone was able to force 21 turnovers and 11 of those were steals.
With the help from seniors Drew Escala and Ashton Walk’s rebounding, the Golden Eagles were able to take control of the game and out rebounded Penns Valley 35-16.
The first half ended in a 53-20 Golden Eagle lead. Although this was a great spot to be in, after previous experience from Williamsport last year Tyrone knew they couldn’t take their foot off the gas.
“We were dominating them and playing well as a group, but we knew that we had to continue playing like that if we wanted to get the job done,” senior Trent Adams said.
It didn’t take long in the third quarter for Tyrone to continue their domination and get a big enough lead to put some extra depth in the game and let them close the game out.
Overall, Tyrone showed they have the talent and depth to be very good. With a fairly tough schedule, they will have to bring their A-game every week and play as hard as they did last night.
Tyrone will take on Bishop Carroll on Friday at home. Last year the Huskies stunned the Golden Eagles 79-76, so this will be a revenge game for Tyrone.
“We have a very tough schedule with BC coming here on Friday. They are a team that beat us last year after we had a lead so we need to make sure we play with defensive pressure for all 32 minutes,” Rhoades said.
PENNS VALLEY (41): F. Ironside 1 0-0 2, C. Ironside 3 0-0 8, Webster 0 0-0 0, Patel 4 1-1 9, Althouse 1 2-2 4, Parsons 1 0-0 2, Shouey 1 0-0 2, Fetterolf 4 0-2 8, Battaglia 2 2-2 6, Dasher 0 0-0 0. Totals–17 5-7 41.
TYRONE (69): Crilly 6 0-0 16, A. Walk 2 1-1 5, Escala 4 0-0 8, Lehner 5 1-1 11, Woomer 4 0-0 11, Adams 1 0-0 2, Hamer 3 0-0 6, M. Emigh 2 0-0 4, Parsons 0 0-0 0, B. Walk 3 0-0 6, Oakes 0 0-0 0, Rudden 0 0-0 0, Novak 0 0-0 0, Dasher 0 0-0 0, Gwinn 0 0-0 0, Harpster 0 0-0 0. Totals–30 2-2 69.
