“Defense was the motor,” said senior guard Parker Mitchell when asked what fueled the Golden Eagles win against rival Bellwood.

“If we play great defense and don’t let them get anything easy, we’ll be able to win a lot of games,” added Mitchell.

The annual hardwood version of the Backyard Brawl was a very ugly and passionate game on both sides.

It was a rough shooting night for both teams. Senior guard Dylan Thomas, the Golden Eagles most deadly shooter, connected on only two from beyond the arc.

Offensively, the first half was next to horrible for the Golden Eagles. Fortunately, they were only trailing by six.

The Golden Eagles came out of the half swinging and took lead for good.  Mitchell was the Eagles leading scorer with 18, followed by Thomas with 17.

While Tyrone’s offense struggled to find it’s rhythm, the defense was extremely effective.

Tyrone limited the Blue Devils best shooter, Trent Walker, to 8 points. Bellwood’s high scorer was Tanner Worthing with 15 points.

“We were practicing all week to try to limit [Trent] Walker’s shots, and for the most part, I’d say we did that pretty well,” said Tyrone Head Coach George Gripp.

BOX SCORE

TYRONE (48): Mitchell 6 6-12 18; Thomas 4 7-9 17; Ferguson 1 0-0 2; Gripp 2 3-4 7; Politza 0 2-4 2; Lucas 0 0-2 0; Hicks 1 0-0 2. Totals — 14 18-31 48.

BELLWOOD-ANTIS (39): Worthing 5 4-6 15; Wyland 0 0-0 0; Tre. Walker 4 2-2 8; Engle 3 1-3 8; Wolfe 0 0-0 0; Aiken 0 0-0 0; Tro. Walker 0 0-0 0; Yingling 0 0-0 0. Totals — 14 7-11 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 6 8 12 22– 48

Bellwood-Antis 10 10 8 11 — 39

3-point goals: Tyrone 2 (Thomas); Bellwood-Antis 4 (Tre. Walker 2, Worthing, Engle).

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

JV: Tyrone, 62-28. High scorers–J. Taylor, T, 15; Yingling, BA, 12.