Lola Woomer

ALEXANDRIA — Tyrone came into the season expecting to be one of the teams in the hunt for a District 6 Class 4A girls basketball championship.

The Lady Eagles just figured they would be doing it with star senior Alayna Woomer.

Woomer went down with an injury early in the season, however, and Tyrone had a stretch where it lost four out of six games.

Slowly but surely the rest of the team built confidence in their own abilities, and the Lady Eagles have started to play up to the potential they entered the season hoping to reach.

Wednesday was the latest step in that as Tyrone (12-5) kept its composure in what was a one-score game throughout nearly every possession in the first three quarters before the Lady Eagles got some breathing room early in the fourth quarter and topped Juniata Valley, 51-44.

It was their seventh win in their last eight games.

“It’s hard when you lose that caliber of a player,” Tyrone coach Mike Whitling said. “Our team had to take three, four or five games to figure out how to play without her. It’s been really fun to watch our team evolve in that way. I just think they are playing really well as a team. On any given night, I don’t know who the leading scorer is going to be. I think that’s indicative of playing as a team.”

The leading scorer Wednesday was sophomore Lola Woomer, who starred for the Lady Eagles in track and field as a freshman. She finished with 17 points and was 10-for-10 from the foul line.

Lola Woomer said losing Alayna early was a tough pill to swallow.

“We definitely lost a lot of height,” Lola Woomer said. “We don’t have any other players her size. But I think we kept coming hard at practice and handling the pressure and trying to get wins for her now.”

Alayna Woomer remains a presence with the team and sat on the bench encouraging her teammates during Wednesday’s win.

“I feel way more confident with my game,” Lola Woomer said. “Especially having her on the sideline helping me out and telling me what to do helps a lot. I don’t think we have reached a ceiling yet. We are making our way there. We’re looking for a district championship. We just have to keep getting back in the gym, putting in the work and going hard.”

Tyrone started the game on an 11-4 run and pressured Juniata Valley (11-5) into seven first-quarter turnovers.

“I think it took a little bit for us to settle down and get into our groove,” Juniata Valley coach Liz Radabaugh said. “It took us some time to get into a rhythm.”

Once that happened, the Lady Hornets stormed back to tie the game at 14 after a quarter.

Aubrey Anderson, who led Juniata Valley with 16 points, scored six points during the run, but the Lady Hornets also got baskets from Sage Walters and Lucy Fouse and two free throws by Mazzy Hartman.

“We anticipate most other teams focusing on containing Anna (Taylor) and Aubrey,” Radabaugh said. “That has given the opportunity for our other players to really flourish. They have done a good job stepping up for that. They are young, but they can hit the shots and do everything they need to do to be successful. It’s been exciting to see them find their roles.”

Juniata Valley led 27-26 at halftime, and Fouse’s layup just before the third quarter ended tied the game at 37 going into the final period.

But Lola Woomer opened the fourth with a hook shot, Claire Lehman made a 3-pointer and Rylan Crowell hit a layup to make it 44-37 Tyrone.

“We finally hit shots,” Whitling said. “I don’t know what took us so long, but we got a couple of open looks and knocked them down. Kudos to Juniata Valley, though. Their defense is tough.”

The Lady Hornets had one more spurt in them when Walters made a 3-pointer and Anderson followed with a jumper that cut the lead to two with five minutes to play.

But with Fouse, Hartman and Anderson all having four fouls, Juniata Valley was forced to be less aggressive defensively, and Tyrone took advantage by scoring seven of the game’s final nine points.

“I think that’s part of it,” Radabaugh said. “Once they got up by five and started running the clock, there wasn’t a lot we could do against that. We had a few players in foul trouble, and we also knew that they would make their foul shots, so I didn’t think that wasn’t a viable option for us either.”

Despite losing, Radabaugh said she was pleased with her team’s effort and the experience the Class 1A Lady Hornets got from playing one of the top teams in District 6 Class 4A tough throughout the game.

“It is a different experience, because we have really only played one other close game,” Radabaugh said. “It’s just the way the schedule works with the conference, but it’s definitely something that I’m happy we got the opportunity to experience tonight. It will help the girls continue to grow.”

TYRONE (51): Woomer 3 10-10 17, Crowell 4 2-4 11, Parker 5 1-2 11, Lehman 2 1-2 7, Volders 1 1-2 3, Davis 0 0-0 0, Naylor 0 0-0 0, Woodring 0 2-4 2. Totals — 15 17-24 51.

JUNIATA VALLEY (44): Fouse 3 0-0 6, Walters 4 0-0 9, Anderson 7 2-2 16, Taylor 3 0-0 7, Hartman 1 4-6 6, Smith 0 0-0 0, Hutton 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 6-8 44.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 14 12 11 14 — 51

Juniata Valley 14 13 10 7 — 44

3-point goals: Tyrone 4 (Lehman 2, Woomer, Crowell); Juniata Valley 2 (Walters, Taylor).

Records: Tyrone (12-5); Juniata Valley (11-5).

Officials: Ray Klinger, William Strasser, Klayton Heffner.