Tyrone Lady Eagles extended their winning streak to nine and took first place in the Mountain League by defeating the Central Lady Dragons 45-41 Friday night.

“Despite not shooting well, some girls really stepped up, said head coach Luke Rhoades. “Lindsey Kemp and Alexis Cannistraci had gutsy performances and we really grew up as a team tonight.”

Sophomore Alexis Cannistraci came back from an ankle injury to help the team to what they considered the most important game of the season.

“We got really pumped up before the game and I feel like that’s what got us ready to play. They had a really good defense, but so did we. Our offense was a little slow, but we definitely made up for that with our defense,” said Cannistraci.

Senior Lindsey Kemp also stepped up and played tough against the Lady Dragons.

“We worked hard. We really wanted to beat this team and we did,” said Kemp.

Junior Finnley Christine led the team in the first quarter with seven points, and the first 3-pointer of the game.

The Lady Dragons played a tough defense against the Lady Eagles and held them to only five points in the second quarter leaving the score 16-12 with Tyrone barely leading.

The third quarter was also slow for the Lady Eagle offense but as Central started closing the score gap, as close to within 3 points, Tyrone sophomore Kasey Engle hit a 3-pointer to allow Tyrone to open the gap again.

“Central had the best defense we play all year so we really had to play as a team and execute well on offense,” said Engle. “We grew as a team and got a huge win that allows us to control the Mountain League.”

The fourth quarter included a lot of physical play as only seven of Tyrone’s 20 points did not come from the foul line.

The Lady Eagles play Huntingdon home tonight at 7:30 in the middle school gymnasium.

Box Scores

TYRONE (45): Kemp 3 2-3 8, Christine 4 3-11 12, Engle 3 6-8 14, Cannistraci 3 5-5 11, Sprankle 0 0-0 0, Noll 0 0-0 0. Totals – 13 16-27 45.

CENTRAL (41): Johnston 3 8-10 16, Long 2 1-2 6, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, McGraw 4 5-6 14, Mock 2 1-2 5, O. Smith 0 0-0 0, Kensinger 0 0-0 0. Totals – 11 15-20 41.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone: 11 5 9 20 – 45

Central: 7 5 8 21 – 41

3-point goals: Tyrone 3 (Engle 2, Christine); Central 4 (Johnston 2, Long, McGraw).

Records: Tyrone (11-4 overall, 7-1 Mountain League); Central (8-5, 4-2).