Lady Eagles bounce back with victory over rivals
By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
TYRONE — In almost every sport, the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference is a very competitive, demanding league in which each team in the circuit can count on experiencing its share of highs and lows over the course of a season.
The Tyrone Lady Eagles basketball team bounced back admirably from one of those lows Monday night.
After suffering a lopsided loss at Bishop Guilfoyle Academy this past Friday night, Tyrone turned in a positive response Monday, rolling to a 34-17 halftime lead en route to a 56-41 conference victory over archrival Bellwood-Antis at the Tyrone Middle School Gymnasium.
“I’m very proud of our effort and energy tonight,” said Tyrone coach Mike Whitling, whose team improved to 7-4 overall and 6-4 in conference play. “After a real tough loss at BG, we had a great response tonight.”
Sophomore guard Bri Parker scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the first half to put Tyrone in the driver’s seat.
Parker opened the game’s scoring with a field goal, then converted a steal into a layup to put Tyrone ahead to stay, 4-2. After senior Alayna Greene – who scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Tyrone — hit one of two free throws, junior guard Claire Lehman converted another steal into a layup to give the Lady Eagles a 7-2 lead.
A field goal by junior center Lilly Gerwert — who led Bellwood with 14 points and eight rebounds — made it a 7-4 game, but Tyrone ran off the next seven points on two free throws and an inside bucket by Parker, and a three-point play on a layup and free throw by sophomore Olivia Newlin, as the Lady Eagles moved ahead, 14-4 after one quarter.
Lehman added seven points, while Parker and freshman Lola Woomer chipped in five apiece, in the second quarter, which Tyrone carried, 20-13.
“We really pushed the ball up the floor very well, we did a good job of finding girls open, and we played defense very well,” Parker said of the Lady Eagles’ strong start.
Defensively, Tyrone used its pressure to disrupt Bellwood’s offensive game plan.
“We played very well in our press tonight, and that gave us some momentum and some early buckets off some steals and deflections,” Whitling said. “And once we got the lead, we never looked back.”
Bellwood (7-6, 6-4), which got 10 points from senior Jenna Norton, made only 14 of its 41 floor shots for a 34 percent clip, while Tyrone converted 22 of 49 for 44.8 percent.
Bellwood coach Kyley Longo felt that those numbers were significant.
“All credit to them — they shot lights out tonight and just outplayed us,” Longo said. “Their players were feeding off each other’s energy, and they were rolling from the start, while we couldn’t buy a bucket.”
Game notes: Tyrone celebrated Mental Health Awareness Night, with thousands of dollars in proceeds being raised through the sale of gift baskets and 50-50 tickets to benefit the Altoona Veterans Administration’s mental health program … Tyrone hosts Central tonight, while Bellwood visits Forest Hills Friday night.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (41): Clapper 2 0-1 5, Cacciotti 3 0-0 7, Norton 3 4-4 10, Gerwert 4 6-8 14, Sloey 0 0-0 0, Sweigert 1 1-3 3, Turek 1 0-0 2, Plummer 0 0-0 0, Waite 0 0-0 0, Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals – 14 11-16 41.
TYRONE (56): Crowell 1 0-0 3, Greene 4 1-2 10, Lehman 4 0-1 9, Parker 6 2-2 16, A. Woomer 4 1-1 10, L. Woomer 2 0-0 5, Newlin 1 1-1 3, Volders 0 0-0 0, Gr. Naylor 0 0-0 0, Gen. Naylor 0 0-0 0, Houck 0 0-0 0, Totals – 22 5-7 56.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellwood-Antis 4 13 7 17–41
Tyrone 14 20 9 13–56
3-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 2 (Clapper, Cacciotti); Tyrone 7 (Parker 2, A. Woomer, Crowell, Greene, Lehman, L. Woomer).
Records: Bellwood-Antis (7-6 overall, 6-4 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Tyrone (7-4, 6-4).
Officials: Skip Dry, Mike Andrews, Randy Burkett.
JV: Bellwood-Antis, 37-27. High scorers–Karlie Sweigert and Isabella Sloey, BA, 8 apiece; Grace Naylor, T, 8.