Lady Eagles take advantage of the name game to defeat PC
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TYRONE -- A pair of Alaynas came up huge for the Tyrone Lady Golden Eagles basketball team Saturday evening, as Tyrone captured the girls championship of the Fred B. Miller Memorial Holiday Basketball Tournament.
Tyrone junior guard Alayna Woomer earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors with a game-high 17 points, and senior forward Alayna Greene keyed a strong Tyrone finish with six fourth-quarter points, as the Lady Eagles defeated Penn Cambria, 56-50, in the girls tournament title game at the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium.
"This team is definitely learning how to win and how to play hard minutes,'' said Tyrone coach Mike Whitling, whose Lady Eagles improved to 5-3. "(Penn Cambria) is a well-coached team that brings a lot of pressure on defense, and for our players to overcome that pressure says something about their resilience.
"I'm proud of our ladies performing at the battle level they showed tonight after an emotional game (Friday),'' added Whitling, whose team punched its ticket to the championship game by defeating archrival Bellwood-Antis, 50-38, in Friday's first-round game.
Saturday's title game was back-and-forth throughout before Tyrone, led by all-tournament selection Greene, closed the game on an 8-1 run to overcome a 49-48 fourth-quarter deficit.
Greene started Tyrone's rally by scoring off an inbounds pass to put the Lady Eagles ahead to stay, 50-49. After grabbing a rebound on Penn Cambria's ensuing possession, Greene was fouled and converted both of her free throws, then scored a layup moments later to give Tyrone a 54-49 lead after the Lady Eagles had broken Penn Cambria's press with under a minute left to play.
After senior guard Ava Saleme made one of two free throws for Penn Cambria, sophomore guard Bri Parker and freshman Lola Woomer both converted one of two free throws for Tyrone to set the final.
"I was really nervous for all of us near the end of the game, but as a team, we told ourselves that we got this if we kept our heads held high,'' said Greene, who scored 11 points in the game. "I think that this is really going to help us go out strong for the rest of the season.''
Alayna Woomer scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half during Saturday's game, after scoring a game-high 16 points in Friday's win over Bellwood.
"I thought that we played really well offensively and defensively tonight,'' Alayna Woomer said of Saturday's outing. "We played as a team.''
Penn Cambria was led by freshman Rachel Fisher's 15 points. Fisher and Saleme earned all-tournament honors for Penn Cambria, which made only 15 of its 54 floor shots for a 27.7 percent clip.
The shooting problems have become a pattern for his team, said Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer.
"In our last four games, we've been struggling mightily to score the ball,'' said Himmer, whose squad is now 4-4. "We probably missed 10 to 12 open layups tonight that we just couldn't convert. It was a great game, but we just have to learn how to finish.''
After Penn Cambria had pulled ahead, 27-26, at halftime, the score was tied, 44-44, after three quarters before Tyrone -- which made 18 of 40 floor shots for a 45 percent clip --- carried the fourth quarter, 12-6.
Both teams are idle until Friday night, when they will meet again on Tyrone's home floor in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game.
"I think that winning tonight's game will do our players well for the mental side of things (entering Friday's rematch with Penn Cambria),'' Whitling said. "We still have some things that we need to clean up, but we are going to be able to take some positives with us out of this game.''
Bellwood-Antis (5-4) won the consolation game, 52-44, in overtime over Central behind 22 points from Lilly Gerwert and 10 points from Jenna Norton. The Lady Dragons (1-7) were led by Adyson Poet's 10 points.
Game notes: Tyrone held a 32-26 edge on the boards, with junior guard Rylan Crowell grabbing a game-high nine rebounds for the Lady Eagles ... Other girls all-tournament team selections were Lilly Gerwert of Bellwood-Antis and Lyla Imes of Central.
CHAMPIONSHIP
PENN CAMBRIA (50): Avery Lemaster 2 1-2 7, Saleme 3 3-4 11, Hite 1 2-4 4, Ronan 2 0-0 5, McCoy 2 1-2 6, Fisher 5 3-7 15, McConnell 0 2-2 2, Beard 0 0-0 0, Avayah Lemaster 0 0-0 0. Totals - 15 12-21 50.
TYRONE (56): Crowell 2 2-6 8, Greene 4 3-3 11, Lehman 1 3-6 6, A. Woomer 6 2-5 17, Parker 2 1-3 5, L. Woomer 3 1-2 9, Newlin 0 0-0 0. Totals - 18 12-25 56.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 9 18 17 6--50
Tyrone 15 11 18 12--56
3-point goals: Penn Cambria 8 (Avery Lemaster 2, Saleme 2, Fisher 2, Ronan, McCoy); Tyrone 8 (A. Woomer 3, L. Woomer 2, Crowell 2, Lehman).
Records: Penn Cambria (4-4); Tyrone (5-3).
Officials: Jack McDougal, Brad Martz, Emma Musser.
CONSOLATION
CENTRAL (42): Boyles 2 0-2 4, Dickinson 2 0-0 6, L. Imes 3 1-3 8, Benton 1 0-0 3, Poet 4 2-5 10, A. Imes 4 0-0 8, Long 0 0-0 0, Rykerd 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 3-10 42.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (52): Clapper 2 1-2 7, Gerwert 9 2-4 22, Norton 3 4-6 10, Sweigert 0 0-0 0, Cacciotti 1 3-4 5, Sloey 2 4-7 8, Waite 0 0-0 0, Plummer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 14-23 52.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central 15 10 9 7 1 -- 42
Bellwood-Antis 9 7 16 9 11 -- 52
3-point goals: Central 5 (Dickson 2, L. Imes, Benton, Rykerd); B-A 4 (Clapper 4, Gerwert 2)
Records: Central (1-7), Bellwood-Antis (5-4)