Basketball

Eagles turn up ‘D’ in second quarter

TYRONE -- Cam Wiser connected on a one-handed runner just inside the 3-point line to pull Huntingdon within one point at the end of the first quarter Monday in the Bearcats' District 6 Class 4A quarterfinal game against Tyrone.

Huntingdon didn't score again for 8:45 of game action.

The Golden Eagles played stellar defense and forced 10 first-half turnovers and pulled away from their Mountain League rival in the second quarter during a 71-43 triumph.

Tyrone will travel to second-seeded Penn Cambria for a semifinal game on Saturday at a time to be announced.

"Maybe two or three other times," said Tyrone coach George Gripp when asked if one of his teams had ever held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter during his 16 seasons as a head coach. "But it feels good. We have been really focusing on defense here at practice, and it's good to see it play out the way we hoped. The kids were locked in tonight, and we're going to need that going up to Penn Cambria."

Huntingdon controlled the pace early and trailed just 12-11 after one quarter. Tyrone senior Cortlynd Rhoades picked up his second foul with 6:16 to go in the half, and the Bearcats looked like they might be in position to pull off an upset.

That's when Landen DeHaas started a 14-0 run to end the half that was culminated by eight straight points from Ross Gampe.

"They hit some shots, and we went cold," Huntingdon coach Jordan Fortson said. "That second quarter, we couldn't score. We played good defense, but we couldn't score. They were able to stretch the lead, and we had to start playing their game, which is what we didn't want to do."

That pace included Gampe and fellow forward Keegan Gwinn, who finished with 10 rebounds.

"We were getting rebounds and pushing the ball up the court," Gripp said. "We play at a pretty fast pace, and they played right into our hands. I challenged our big guys to run the floor, and it was just a collective team effort. We did all those things, and you saw the results. Things went well for us."

DeHaas finished off a big night with nine points in a two-minute span in the fourth quarter to seal the game. The Tyrone senior finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

"It feels good when you get all the momentum behind you," DeHaas said. "When we have that momentum, we feel like nothing can stop us."

Huntingdon got 11 points each from Wiser and Jacob Rigby and 10 points from Alec Cooper. The Bearcats finished 11-12.

"We're proud of what our guys did," Fortson said. "Coming off a COVID year last year and only winning four of our 12 total games, it was a big step for us to have double-digit wins and finish the regular season .500 and make the playoffs. Obviously, we wish we could have put some wins together and make a run at the title, because that was the ultimate goal, but I'm proud of the way these guys fought this season."

The Golden Eagles will be playing Penn Cambria for the second time this season. The first did not go well. Tyrone lost in the finals of the Reliance Bank-Kiwanis Holiday Tournament, 57-39, to the Panthers on Dec. 30.

"First of all, they killed us on the glass," Gripp said. "We've got to box out. They start three kids 6-foot-4 inches or taller. We have to be focused on boxing out. Hopefully we can shoot the ball. We couldn't throw it in the ocean from the outside the last time we played. I like how we're shooting now, and we have to keep that going. We are hitting our peak at the right time, hopefully. We have four days to prepare and keep this going."

HUNTINGDON (43): Cooper 2 3-4 10, Bryson 0 1-2 1, Wiser 5 1-1 11, Rigby 5 0-0 11, Henney 0 0-0 0, Moore 3 0-0 7, Ehresman 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Hollibaugh 0 0-0 0, Schneider 0 0-0 0, Foster 0 0-0 0, Norris 1 0-0 3. Totals -- 16 5-7 43.

TYRONE (71): Lang 5 0-0 15, Rhoades 3 2-2 8, DeHaas 10 2-2 25, Gampe 6 0-0 12, Gwinn 2 0-0 4, LeGars 0 0-0 0, Ronan 0 1-2 1, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Walk 0 0-0 0, Crowell 0 0-0 0, Crilly 1 0-0 2, A. Escala 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 29 5-7 71.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Huntingdon 11 0 18 14 -- 43

Tyrone 12 14 25 20 -- 71

3-point goals: Huntingdon 4 (Cooper, Rigby, Moore, Norris); Tyrone 8 (Lang 5, DeHaas 3).

Officials: Mike Andrews, Todd Parker, Curtis Miller.

Records: Huntingdon (11-12); Tyrone (16-7).