12/12/22 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Hollidaysburg's Brady Steiner strips the ball from Tyrone's Ashton Walk

TYRONE — After scoring 19 of the game’s 22 points and bolting out to a 21-6 lead after one quarter against Mountain League rival Hollidaysburg, it might have appeared to some that the Tyrone Golden Eagles would have an easy night of it Monday.

Veteran Tyrone coach George Gripp knew better, though.

“I was very pleased with the way that we came out tonight, but I knew that (Hollidaysburg) was going to make a run at us, and they did,” Gripp said.

The Golden Tigers eventually whittled that 16-point deficit to just one point, 60-59 in the closing minute before Tyrone hung on down the stretch to prevail, 62-59 at the Tyrone Area Senior High School gymnasium.

Sparked by 6-foot-5 senior power forward Ross Gampe’s game-high 23 points and a key putback bucket by sophomore forward Andrew Escala with the game in the balance, Tyrone weathered a fourth quarter in which it converted only two of nine free throws to open the door for Hollidaysburg.

“We have to do a better job of closing the game out,” said Gripp, whose team improved to 2-0 by winning what was the Mountain League opener for both teams. “We missed some late free throws that could have iced the game.”

Junior Dravyn Crowell’s inside bucket off a feed from Gampe gave Tyrone a 56-45 fourth-quarter lead before Hollidaysburg staged a 14-4 run to pull to within 60-59 when junior Carson Rhodes finished off a fast break with a bucket in the final minute for the Golden Tigers.

Tyrone missed a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left, but the second hit the front of the rim and Escala filled the lane and grabbed the rebound. He put up a short shot from the paint for a huge field goal that gave Tyrone a 62-59 lead.

“We had a lot of guys step up and make key plays for us tonight, and Andrew definitely made a key basket there for us,” Gripp said of the 6-foot-4 Escala, who scored 10 points in the game. “He is 6-foot-4 with long arms, and he got a nice bounce off the front of the rim there and put the ball in the basket. That was definitely a big play for us.”

Hollidaysburg (0-4) then looked for a potential game-tying 3-point shot to force overtime, but the chance never materialized. Tyrone forced the Golden Tigers into a last-ditch, contested running shot that hit below the rim and Tyrone grabbed the rebound as time expired.

“We could have had the ball down by one point after they missed the two free throws, but Escala got that big stickback for them,” Hollidaysburg coach Brad Lear said. “We were looking for a ball screen for the 3-point shot at the end, but it just didn’t work out.

“There are no moral victories, but we played hard — we always play hard — and we took a giant step tonight,” Lear said.

Gampe was a force underneath the basket during the entire game for Tyrone, showing off his superior strength and athleticism to help Tyrone grab the upper hand early and keep it throughout.

Gampe and senior guard Zac LeGars sparked Tyrone’s inside-outside tandem with eight points apiece in the first quarter as the Golden Eagles threatened to make a rout of the game early. LeGars scored 13 points in the game for Tyrone, including three 3-pointers.

“We just try to get the ball to Ross, he’s a big part of what we try to do offensively,” Gripp said of Gampe. “He can use either his right hand or his left hand equally well with the ball. He often demands double-team coverage from opponents, and he has the ability to see the floor well and get the ball out to our open shooters.”

Gampe and LeGars are Tyrone’s only returning lettermen this year.

“This is only our second game of the year, and we’re a young team,” Gampe said. “I just work in the post and perform my role. And if other guys are open for shots, I’ll kick the ball out.

“We’ve been playing well as a team,” Gampe added. “Hopefully we can keep it up and win a lot more games.”

Rhodes led Hollidaysburg with 16 points, while two other Golden Tigers juniors, Cole Walters and Leyton Weimert, chipped in 13 and 12 points respectively.

Gampe’s inside bucket gave Tyrone a 60-49 fourth-quarter lead before the Golden Tigers reeled off the next 10 points on a 3-ball by Walters, and successive field goals by sophomore Jay Albarano, junior Mason Goodman and Rhodes to make it a nail-biter in the final minute.

“Our scouting report was really good and once we got our legs, we did well,” Lear said. “We just had a hard time getting off the bus in that first quarter.”

Tyrone dodged a bullet but came up on the positive side of the final score.

“We came out with a win tonight,” Gripp said. “Hopefully we can learn from this and keep improving.”

Game notes: Jon Holsopple, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, had a game-high 11 rebounds for Hollidaysburg, which visits Clearfield in a Mountain League matchup Thursday night … Tyrone also plays Thursday, visiting Penns Valley for a league game.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (59): Goodman 3 1-2 7, Walters 4 2-2 13, Rhodes 6 3-3 16, Weimert 5 2-2 12, Steiner 0 0-0 0, Holsopple 3 0-0 6, Metzger 0 1-2 1, Albarano 1 2-4 4. Totals–22 11-15 59.

TYRONE (62): Gampe 11 1-4 23, LeGars 4 2-2 13, Walk 3 0-2 7, Crowell 4 1-3 9, Escala 4 2-3 10, Crilly 0 0-0 0. Totals–26 6-14 62.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 6 16 17 20–59

Tyrone 21 11 12 18–62

3-point goals: Hollidaysburg (4): Walters 3, Rhodes. Tyrone 4 (LeGars 3, Walk):

Records: Hollidaysburg (0-4 overall, 0-1 in the Mountain League); Tyrone (2-0, 1-0). Officials: Skip Dry, Ray Wotkowski, Brock Kauffman.

JV: Hollidaysburg, 48-45. High scorers–Kasen Metzger, H, 13; Eli Woomer, T, 27.