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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
SIDMAN -- There's a basketball saying that goes when a team or individual shoots really well that they 'shoot the lights out'.
During a timeout with 2:40 remaining in the Tuesday night's game between Tyrone and Forest Hills, the overhead lights literally went out.
If the adage held true, then the Rangers were the cause of the lights going out as the second seed shot a blistering 64-percent (35-for-55) on the night.
That shooting, and a run of 18 unanswered points by FH, proved to be the undoing for the Golden Eagles in a 92-63 loss in District 6 Class 3A semifinals.
"They (Forest Hills) shot the lights out. I don't know if they missed maybe two shots in the first half," Tyrone coach Luke Rhoades said. "I can't even get mad about our defense because I thought we were moving well, I thought we were challenging them. They just hit shots and we didn't."
After starting the contest trading baskets, the Golden Eagles grabbed their last lead of the night at 6-5 when Dravyn Crowell made a layup with 6:29 on the first quarter clock.
Forest Hills freshman Dylan Stohon gave his team the lead for good with a turnaround in the lane just 20 seconds later.
In the opening half, the Rangers hit from the outside, made mid-range jumpers, got to the rim on the drive, utilized its advantage in the post and ran the floor to get fast break layups.
With the third seeded Eagle trailing 16-12 following an Eli Woomer layup at 2:32 of the opening stanza, the Rangers got a layup from Brandon Gregovich thirty seconds later that kickstarted the 18-0 spurt.
"That was huge because they (Tyrone) are a team that you don't want to let hang around -- they can hit 3s, they run the court really well," Forest Hills coach Dom Vescovi, who recorded his 100th career coaching victory with the win, said. "We had the lead up around 20 points but it didn't feel safe because I've seen them play on film and they're a really good team."
The play of Gregovich in the post caused Tyrone to have to double down, as the FH sophomore dominated inside with 16 of his 18 points in the opening half. The double team allowed the shooters to find my room as Forest Hills knocked down 11 from 3-point range.
A Gregovich layup at 6:43 of the second quarter put his team up 34-12 before Kendall Lehner, who finished with 11 points, knocked down a pair from the foul line to end the nearly four-and-half minute scoring drought.
"Brandon (Gregovich) was the big difference maker in the first half," Vescovi said. "When he started scoring, they (Tyrone) had to double team and it opened up shooters. And, it opened up a lot of other things."
A trey from Andrew Escala, who led Tyrone with 14 points, in transition at 4:21 was the first made field goal since the run began. Forest Hills' lead grew to 29 (48-19) on a layup by Kevin Edmondson. A layup by Tyrone's Dravyn Crowell with five ticks left sent the contest into the half at 50-26.
In the opening half, Forest Hills got all but five of its points from Dylan Stohon, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Koy McGough (21 points), Si McGough (19) also finished in double digits.
The Rangers hit 22-of-33 shots in the opening half, while the Eagles made 9-of-29.
In the third, after Koy McGough drilled back-to-back 3-pointers from deep, FH led 59-31 with 5:31 to go.
During a stoppage in play with 5:17 showing on the clock following a turnover by his team, Rhoades implored his team that 'you gotta get a stop. Gotta get a stop'.
At that point, Tyrone was two points away from having the mercy-rule running clock go against them.
"I thought our guys battled hard," Rhoades said. "... At the media timeout, they (Forest Hills) had three 3s in the third quarter and all of them were beyond NBA range and I think one banked in. Some nights the ball just goes in and it did for them tonight."
While the climb back was already an extremely long one, having the clock run continuously would have made it near impossible.
The Eagles got what they wanted as Stohon was called for traveling.
A trey from Sam Crilly and a free throw by Escala had the deficit down to 24 (59-35).
While the Rangers got within one possession of being able to reach the mercy rule mark seven more times, each time Tyrone had an answer or two to keep the clock from running.
However, the closest the Golden Eagles got was within 23 on two separate occasions (67-44 and 69-46).
Forest Hills eventually reached the mark on a shot by Stohon with 3:18 left to make the score 88-58.
The loss drops Tyrone to 17-7 and into Friday night's consolation game at Bishop Guilfoyle at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the state playoffs and the loser going home.
"They (Bishop Guilfoyle) are a great team that shoots the ball well too," Rhoades said. "We can't have our heads down. We are going on the road again, so we have to be ready to go."
The Rangers improved to 20-4 and will meet Westmont Hilltop on Friday at Mount Aloysius in the championship slated to tip at 7:30 p.m.
TYRONE (63): Crilly 3 0-0 8, Escala 4 4-6 14, Walk 3 4-4 11, Lehner 4 2-2 11, Crowell 3 0-0 6, Woomer 3 0-0 8, Ronan 0 3-4 3, Parsons 0 0-0 0, Dasher 0 0-0 0, M. Emigh 1 0-0 2, A. Emigh 0 0-0 0, Oakes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-16 63.
FOREST HILLS (92): K. McGough 7 2-2 21, Stohon 10 5-6 25, S. McGough 6 2-2 19, Gregovich 8 2-5 18, Williamson 1 0-0 3, Gabany 1 0-0 2, Gramling 0 0-0 0, Edmondson 2 0-0 4, Myers 0 0-0 0, Shutty 0 0-0 0, Tokarsky 0 0-0 0, Schilling-Mansour 0 0-0 0, Vitez 0 0-0 0, Gay 0 0-0 0. Totals: 35 11-15 92.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 12 14 20 17 -- 63
Forest Hills 27 23 19 23 -- 92
3-point field goals: Tyrone 8 (Crilly 2, Escala 2, Woomer 2, Walk, Lehner); Forest Hills 11 (K. McGough 5, S. McGough 5, Williamson).
Records: Tyrone (17-7); Forest Hills (20-4).