The Tyrone Lady Eagles gave themselves a nice Christmas present by defeating Central and Penn Cambria to win the 2021 Kiwanis Holiday Tournament on the boy’s home floor on December 29-30.

Along with the win Tyrone senior Jaida Parker was named tournament MVP, and four of the five Tyrone starters, seniors Stephanie Ramsey, Emma Getz, and junior Kayelin Gibbons, were honored with selection to the all-tournament team.

“This was a playoff-style basketball game that I really think is going to be good for both teams,” said Head Coach Luke Rhoades. “Penn Cambria is a good team and a very well-coached team, but our girls deserve credit for being able to break through Penn Cambria’s defensive pressure and get some easy layups.”

The Eagles opened the tournament against the Central Lady Dragons. They started off strong against the Dragons and took it to them the entire game.

In the first quarter, the Eagles jumped out to a 21-5 lead and remained dominant the rest of the game.

Parker led all scorers with 17, while Ramsey added 15, Gibbons added 12, and senior Marissa Lewis was also in double digits with 11.

Going into the half, the Eagles scored 14 points, while the Dragons added 10. By the end of the third, the Eagles has secured a comfortable 22 point lead, 54-32.

The game ended with the Lady Eagles coming out on top, 64-36. The win had secured their ticket to the championship game against Penn Cambria.

Tyrone knew their matchup with Penn Cambria in the finals would not be easy.

Penn Cambria is a very physical and fast team, and the Eagles would have to equal their opponent’s physicality in order to be victorious.

In the first quarter, there was a lot of back and forth action, as both teams were able to force numerous turnovers.

The Lady Eagles went into the half with a close 23-21 lead. Only up by two points, they knew they needed to come out of halftime ready to go. The girls did not let up and they continued to push the lead. At the end of the third quarter, the Lady Eagles had strengthened their lead to 5.

In the fourth quarter, Ramsey came out hot from three and the foul line, scoring 14 of her 18 points.

Junior Kayelin Gibbons controlled the offensive and defensive boards throughout the game and with help from Parker, the Eagles held a 32-22 rebound advantage over the Panthers.

Box Scores:

CENTRAL (36): Johnston 3 3-4 10, Heuston 2 3-4 7, Longenecker 4 0-0 10, Ellis 3 2-4 8, Dixon 0 0-0 0, Rhykerd 0 1-2 1, Decker 0 0-0 0, Balliet 0 0-0 0, Dickson 0 0-0 0. Totals–12 9-14 36.

TYRONE (64): Lewis 5 1-2 11, Ramsey 5 0-0 15, Getz 3 0-0 7, Parker 6 4-7 17, Gibbons 3 6-7 12, Weston 0 0-0 0, Corl 0 0-0 0, Greene 1 0-1 2, Paul 0 0-0 0, Eades 0 0-0 0, Shaw 0 0-0 0. Totals–23 11-17 64.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central 8 7 17 4 — 36
Tyrone 21 14 19 10 — 64

3-point goals: Central 3 (Longenecker 2, Johnston); Tyrone 7 (Ramsey 5, Getz, Parker)

PENN CAMBRIA (42): M. Saleme 1 0-0 3, Hite 1 4-5 6, Lilly 5 0-0 10, B. O’Donnell 5 0-0 10, Cornell 4 0-0 9, Vinglish 0 0-0 0, Crossman 0 1-2 1, Anderson 1 0-0 3, Della 0 0-0 0, A. O’Donnell 0 0-0 0. Totals–17 5-7 42.

TYRONE (55): Lewis 0 0-0 0, Ramsey 4 7-9 18, Getz 2 2-5 8, Parker 7 0-0 14, Gibbons 5 3-4 13, Corl 1 0-0 2, Paul 0 0-0 0, Eades 0 0-0 0, Greene 0 0-0 0, Weston 0 0-0 0. Totals–19 12-18 55.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 6 15 11 10 — 42
Tyrone 11 12 14 18 — 55

3-point goals: Penn Cambria 3 (M. Saleme, Cornell, Anderson); Tyrone 5 (Ramsey 3, Getz 2).