Tyrone Boys Dominate The Blue Devils

By Kelton Raabe and Dean Grassi|December 12, 2018

The Tyrone Boys Basketball team took on the Blue Devils on Friday in their first game of the season.  Despite starting four sophomores and only one senior, Tyrone looked like seasoned veterans in a dominating 63-18 win.

Tyrone was effective shooting from anywhere on the court. Sophomore Damon Gripp made multiple lay-ups and fellow sophomore Jake Taylor led all scorers with 17, including three three-pointers.

Sophomore Blaine Hoover also had four steals making him a key component in keeping Bellwood at 18 points for the entire game.

After a somewhat slow start in the first six minutes,  game was all Tyrone from midway through the first quarter.

“Going on a 44-6 score run was a turning point in the game,” said Taylor.

Tyrone’s press defense locked the Blue Devils in their own end, allowing them to only score 4 points.

It would only get worse for the Devils as Tyrone held a 26-6 lead.

“I think we played great. Our defense was great all night and we were able to knock down the ball on a lot of shots,” said Lucas.

The team continued into the third quarter now only allowing the Blue Devils half the number of points they did in the first half while also putting up 21 points. 

With six freshmen and five sophomores on the roster, Tyrone should only continue to improve as the year progresses.  

“Team chemistry definitely helped because we have been playing with each other since third grade,” said Damon Gripp.

Although multiple things went well for Tyrone, the team is still looking to make improvements, such as offensive plays and formations.

“We’re looking to improve our offense. Even though we made a lot of shots, we still messed up plays and turned the ball over too much,” said Lucas.

Overall Tyrone destroyed the Blue Devils and are hoping to do the same on Monday at Richland, a team that defeated the Golden Eagles 58-46 in their last meeting.

Varsity head coach George Gripp was satisfied with the opener.

“For the most part, I was pleased with the opening-night win,” said Coach Gripp.

BOX SCORE

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (18): Wolfe 4 0-0 8, Yingling 0 0-1 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Z. Mallon 0 0-0, Miller 1 2-2 4, Frederick 0 0-0 0, Moss 1 0-0 3, Luensmann 1 0-0 3. Totals — 7 2-3 18.

TYRONE (63): Lucas 2 2-5 7, Gripp 5 1-2 13, Hoover 3 1-2 8, Moon 1 0-0 2, Taylor 6 2-2 17, Ferguson 1 2-3 5, DeHaas 0 0-0 0, Locke 0 0-0 0, Lang 1 0-0 3, Rhoades 0 0-0 0.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bellwood-Antis 4 2 2 10 — 18

Tyrone: 14 12 21 16 — 63

3-point goals:

Bellwood-Antis: 2 (Moss, Luensmann)

Tyrone 10 (Taylor 3, Gripp 2, Ferguson, Lucas, Hoover, DeHaas, Lang).

Records: Bellwood-Antis (0-1); Tyrone (1-0).

JV: Tyrone, 53-21. High scorers–Landen DeHaas, T, 22; Jack Luensmann, B-A, 8.