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Bearcats take control in 3rd quarter

TYRONE — In many hotly contested high school basketball games, the third quarter, for better or worse, tells the story.

In the third quarter, momentum in a game often swings in one direction, and remains there for the duration.

Such was the case Wednesday night, when unbeaten Huntingdon controlled the third quarter, 20-9 and held serve through the second half for a 65-51 Mountain League victory over Tyrone at the Tyrone Area Senior High School gymnasium.

Huntingdon (4-0 overall, 3-0 in the Mountain League) led by only one point, 29-28 at intermission, but broke away in the third quarter by hitting nine of 18 floor shots to take a 49-37 advantage after three stops.

“We challenged the guys in the locker room at halftime,” Huntingdon coach Nick Payne said. “We had a 1-point lead in a tough environment, and we wanted to get the guys believing.

“Offensively, we started knocking down outside shots, and defensively, our game plan every quarter is to limit the opposition to single digits, and we did that in (the third) quarter.”

Huntingdon got the first five points of the third quarter, with junior forward Owen Lane converting a steal into a layup, and senior guard Jayton Smith draining a 3-pointer from the right side.

After senior forward Parker Mitchell answered with a field goal to pull Tyrone to within 34-30, Huntingdon went on a 10-2 run to build a 10-point, 44-32 lead with 2:33 left in the third.

After Lane and Tyrone senior guard Jake Meredith had traded buckets, junior forward Nick Rigby scored a field goal in transition for Huntingdon, before adding another bucket on a putback.

Senior guard Jonathan Price rolled one off the rim and through the cylinder on a floater from the key, and Rigby — who scored a game-high 20 points — finished the Huntingdon spurt with a drive to the basket for another field goal to give the Bearcats the 44-32 cushion.

“So far this season, the third quarter has been our best quarter,” Rigby said. “We tried to get more movement in our offense, and give (Tyrone) a bunch of different looks. We did a good job of taking advantage in the third quarter.”

Along with Rigby’s 20 points, Smith had 12 and Price and junior Jackson Ritchey chipped in 10 apiece for Huntingdon, which extended its lead to as many as 20 points, 64-44 on Ritchey’s bucket midway through the fourth quarter.

“Our perimeter shots were falling in the second half,” Payne said. “On any given night, (a different player) can step up and score for us. We have confidence in our players.”

Tyrone (3-2 overall, 1-2 league) was led by Mitchell’s 11 points and 10 from senior guard Dylan Thomas.

The Golden Eagles broke out to a 15-8 first-quarter lead and hung close throughout the first half, but didn’t continue the intensity into the second half, which dismayed Tyrone coach George Gripp.

“They have five guys who can make shots, drive and create,” Gripp said of the Huntingdon team. “To beat the good teams, you have to be able to put a full game together, and we’re having a hard time putting a full game together right now.

“It seems to be a matter of focus,” Gripp said. “They beat us on the 50-50 balls, they made the all-out-effort plays, and they beat us on the glass. We didn’t make the extra effort on defense, and they didn’t stop — they played hard the whole game.”

Rigby grabbed 11 rebounds for Huntingdon, which outrebounded Tyrone, 33-22.

“Offensive rebounds are something that we’ve been stressing, and I thought we rebounded really well and finished pretty strong under the hoop,” Payne said.

Game notes: Tyrone has a quick turnaround, traveling to Mount Union tonight … Huntingdon will participate in the Lions Tournament at Juniata College Dec. 26-27.

HUNTINGDON (65): Smith 5 0-1 12, Price 4 0-0 10, Miller 1 0-0 2, Ritchey 3 4-6 10, Rigby 7 4-7 20, Lane 3 0-2 6, Sulesky 2 1-4 5, Gearhart 0 0-0 0. Totals — 25 9-20 65.

TYRONE (51): Mitchell 4 3-4 11, Meredith 4 1-3 9, Thomas 4 0-0 10, Gripp 3 2-2 9, Lucas 0 1-2 1, Hoover 1 2-2 4, Hicks 0 1-2 1, Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Moon 1 0-0 2, Politza 2 0-2 4, Locke 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 10-17 51.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Huntingdon 18 11 20 16 — 65

Tyrone 15 13 9 14 — 51

3-point goals: Huntingdon 6 (Smith 2, Price 2, Rigby 2); Tyrone 3 ().

Records: Huntingdon (4-0 overall, 3-0 in the Mountain League); Tyrone (3-2 overall, 1-1 in the Mountain League).

Officials: Clark Adelman, Joe Bilka, Bill Pfeffer.

JV: Tyrone, 76-25. High scorers–Tony Poorman, H, 13; Corbin Moon, T, 18.

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