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Tyrone wins on Lewis’ FT with no time

TYRONE — Forest Hills senior guard Jared Wehner’s foul on Tyrone’s Michael Lewis at the buzzer with the game tied at 57 was met with a conference by the officials over whether the ball went out of bounds off the overhead pipes on the prior Lewis layup attempt.

The officials ruled in favor of Lewis and the Golden Eagles, sending him to the line for the game-winning foul shot, giving Tyrone (14-9) a 58-57 win in the District 6 Class 4A boys basketball quarterfinals Tuesday night.

For Lewis, the shot was a chance to redeem himself, after personal and technical fouls turned a one-point deficit into six early in the fourth quarter. With Lewis not owning one of the highest free-throw percentages on the squad, he joked about his nerves going into what was the deciding point.

“I’ll be honest, I think I need to change my underwear,” Lewis said. “That was definitely nerve wracking.”

Lewis encapsulated the night well, passing the credit to his teammates and noting their ability to stay calm in what was at times an unfriendly home environment, thanks in part to the Ranger faithful making the trip from Sidman.

“Jake Meredith, Parker Mitchell, and Hunter Anderson went out there and hit clutch shots. Dylan (Thomas) was on all night. I think we just kept our cool and that was the difference in the game,” Lewis said.

The aforementioned Golden Eagles definitely all played their parts well.

Anderson’s pair of buckets in the fourth quarter were key to Tyrone’s rally. Parker Mitchell went 9-of-12 from the foul line for 13 total points. Meredith had six field goals and finished with 15 points, and Dylan Thomas rained down five shots from 3-point range for 15 points.

“We know, in the playoffs, the team that makes the layups, makes the 2-footers, and makes the foul shots usually wins the game,” Tyrone coach George Gripp said. “It was just fitting that Michael, after he did that little blunder earlier, he was able to redeem himself there. I was really happy for him.”

Ranger coach Dominic Vescovi believed that Lewis’ shot hit the pipe but noted he might not have had the absolute best view.

“I’ll give the official credit. He was in position and that’s his job to do,” Vescovi said. “The game’s in their hands. If that’s where it went, then I think that’s the call that was made.”

Tyrone forced the Rangers to play defense without being physical. Ultimately, it was foul shots that did them in.

“They got the line more than us and made us have to play defense in a non-aggressive way, and we like to be aggressive, and it made our guys have to back off, take a step back. They were reading the key, and it forced us to foul on open shots often,” Vescovi said.

Tyrone was down the majority of the game, gaining the lead only to have it snatched away moments later. Gripp said that message to his team was focus and not get ahead of themselves.

“We knew each time we crossed half court, we’ve got to execute our plays on offense. We can’t have any turnovers, we’ve got to get the looks. On defense, all we wanted to do was to keep the ball in front of us, box out, hold them to one shot, contest every shot.”

The Golden Eagles advanced to Thursday’s District 6 Class 4A semifinals, where they will play at top-seeded Central at 6 p.m.. Gripp says they’ll be back today in the gym working on offense.

“When we’re not making shots, it seems like we don’t focus on the other end. But for us, just how we go offensively really determines how we play.”

FOREST HILLS (57): Wehner 6 6-8 21, Smith 3 0-0 8, Richardson 3 0-0 6, Cecere 2 4-6 8, Chunta 2 0-0 6, Schrock 1 3-4 5, Shope 1 1-2 3, Bernard 0 0-0 0. Totals – 18 14-20 57.

TYRONE (58): Mitchell 2 9-12 13, Meredith 6 2-2 15, Ferguson2 2-3 6, Lewis 2 1-1 5, Thomas 5 0-0 15, Anderson 2 0-0 4. Totals – 19 14-18 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Forest Hills 15 13 15 14 — 57

Tyrone 12 15 10 21 — 58

3-point goals: Forest Hills 7 (Wehner 3, Smith 2, Chunta 2,); Tyrone 6 (Thomas 5, Meredith).

Records: Forest Hills (11-11); Tyrone (14-9)

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