×

Altoona takes Building II title

When Corbin Moon scored on the fast break early in the second half of the Building II High School Boys League championship game, it pulled his Tyrone team even with Altoona at 20-20.

The Mountain Lions answered with an 11-0 run, however, and went on to take the title game, 43-29.

“We started rebounding better in the second half. We limited the turnovers and got the ball moving at a better pace,” Altoona coach Kenny Macklin said.

Caleb Pierce started the run with a putback of his own miss, and KJ Futrell pushed the Altoona lead to five with a 3-pointer.

Futrell took a hard fall driving to the basket earlier in the possession but got up and moved out to the left wing for the trey.

“The adrenalin was pumping pretty good. I didn’t feel much of anything,” Futrell said. “I just pushed myself to get up and do whatever I could to help boost my teammates.”

After PJ Charles scored on a strong move to the rim on Altoona’s next possession, Charles kept the run going with a couple key plays on the defensive end.

The Altoona junior grabbed the defensive rebound on Tyrone’s ensuing possession and found a streaking Tyler Becker with a long pass for a layup then made a steal that resulted in another fast break bucket.

He found Becker once again with the outlet pass who quickly moved it to Jeremiah Crockett for two more points that put Altoona ahead 31-20.

“We were a little timid and nervous in the first half. Coach told us at halftime to pick it up. We started doing that and were able to play better in the second half,” Charles said.

Brandon Lucas broke the Altoona run with a 3-pointer from the corner, but the damage was done.

“It was a pretty even first half. We were able to match their energy, but the game got away from us in that three-to-four minute stretch,” Tyrone coach Byron Kost said. “We wanted to keep Charles in check, but he got going in the second half. Every time he got a rebound, their guards were getting out and that fueled their run.”

Tyrone pulled to within seven on a David Lang 3-pointer but got no closer the rest of the way. Becker sealed the win in the final minute with a reverse layup off an assist from Pierce.

Charles finished with a game-high 11 points, and Crockett scored in double digits as well with 10 points.

“We started the protecting the ball a little more and got into a better flow on offense,” Crockett said. “This give us something positive going into the high school season.”

Becker and Pierce each had seven points, and Futrell added five. Damon Gripp scored a team-high nine points for Tyrone.

TYRONE (29): Lucas 2 0-0 5, Gripp 3 3-6 9, Rhoades 0 0-0 0, DeHaas 2 0-0 4, Ferguson 1 0-2 2, Moon 3 0-0 6, Lang 1 0-0 3, Gwinn 0 0-0 0, Silva 0 0-0 0, Grampe 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 12 3-8 29.

ALTOONA (43): Pierce 3 1-1 7, Futrell 2 0-2 5, Becker 3 0-0 7, Crockett 4 0-0 10, Charles 4 3-6 11, Warren 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Petucci 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 4-9 43.

SCORE BY HALVES

Tyrone 18 11 — 29

Altoona 20 23 — 43

3-point goals: Tyrone 2 (Lucas, Lang); Altoona 5 (Crockett 2, Becker, Futrell, Robinson).

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today