TYRONE - When Tyrone's Charles Wilson-Adams fills the lane on the fastbreak, look out. The 6-foot-1 junior goes to the rim as fast and as strong as any player in the area.
His end-to-end layup that resulted in a 3-point play early in the fourth quarter helped spark the Golden Eagles to a 46-35 win over Tussey Mountain Saturday night at the Tyrone Area High School gym.
"When Charles went coast to coast, it really inspired the rest of the guys. It ignited the whole team," Tyrone coach George Gripp said.
Article Photos
Mirror photo by Gary M.?Baranec
Tyrone’s Charles Wilson-Adams shoots over Tussey Mountain’s Luke Zelanko.
Wilson-Adams slapped the ball out of Luke Zelanko's hands under the Tussey basket and bolted up the right side. He briefly lost control of the ball, regained it and went in for the layup with a defender on him.
His ensuing free throw gave Tyrone a nine-point lead with 6:50 left to play. Wilson-Adams finished with a game-high 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Steve Franco added 12 points and eight rebounds as Tyrone improved to 18-2.
Neither team shot very well. They were both ice cold from the start, going a combined 3-for-30 from the field in the first quarter. Tyrone finished 15-of-65 from the floor. Tussey Mountain (13-7) wasn't much better, making just 12-of-54 shots.
"You can't beat a big-time team shooting like that," Tussey coach Dave Bailey said. "The Charles Adams kid had a real nice game, and Steve Franco showed why he's a Division 1 athlete."
Tussey took away Tyrone's dual outside threat of Richard Crabtree and Brandon Gripp. Crabtree, the Golden Eagles' leading scorer, was held to six points, and Gripp scored just three.
"They played pretty good defense against me and Brandon, but we didn't shoot very well either," Crabtree said. "The shots wouldn't fall. Sometimes you have games like that. I'm just glad we got the win."
The two teams were within a bucket or two of each other most of the game before Tyrone put together a 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth.
Tyrone made 3-of-6 free throws to end the third, and Crabtree sank a 3-pointer from left wing to open the fourth. Wilson-Adams followed with his coast-to-coast layup, putting the Golden Eagles up 34-25.
Tussey pulled to within 35-30 near the three-minute mark when Michael Runk scored on a driving layup, but that was close as the Titans would get.
"When it was 35-30, we needed the next basket," Bailey said. "We needed to be ahead late in the game. Getting behind put us in bad spot."
Tyrone got the next basket, however. Crabtree drained a pullup jump shot from just inside the free throw line.
Wilson-Adams sealed the win in the final minute with a fast break layup when Tussey tried to get the ball back with a full court press.
"I'm just happy we got the win," George Gripp said. "It's been a long week with four games. We'll take it. It's a good way to end the home season."
TUSSEY MOUNTAIN (35): Runk 2 2-2 7, Husick 4 3-3 13, Mitchell 1 0-0 3, Zelanko 5 2-4 12, Wilson 0 0-0 0, Kline 0 0-0 0, Shauf 0 0-0 0. Totals - 12 7-9 35.
TYRONE (46): Gripp 1 0-0 3, Franco 2 8-13 12, Crabtree 2 1-4 6, Wilson-Adams 8 3-6 19, Dickson 1 2-4 4, Wagner 1 0-0 2. Totals - 15 14-27 46.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tussey Mountain5 11 9 10 - 35
Tyrone4 17 7 18 - 46
3-point goals: Tussey Mountain 4 (Husick 2, Runk, Mitchell); Tyrone 2 (Gripp, Crabtree).
Records: Tussey Mountain (13-7); Tyrone (18-2).
Officials: Skip Dry, Mike Andrews, Darrell Jones.
