Dec 23, 2025
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Bishop Guilfoyle’s Taurean Consiglio (left) and Troy Ruggery (right) go after the basketball with Tyrone’s Conner Zupon on Monday night at the Pleasant Valley Gym. BG won the game, 78-45.
An outstanding Bishop Guilfoyle Academy boys basketball team became significantly better Monday night.
Senior standout Taurean Consiglio, an all-state football player who missed essentially the Marauders’ entire 2025 football season with a torn triceps, made his first competitive basketball appearance in eight months, and was one of four BG players in double figures, as the Marauders cruised to a 78-45 Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference victory over Tyrone at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium.
“I’m just happy to be back,” said Consiglio, who starred in BG’s state championship football victory over Port Allegany as a running back/linebacker in 2024 but was forced to watch the Marauders’ loss to Clairton in the 2025 state title game from the sideline earlier this month. “It’s been a long eight months, and I’m happy to be back playing basketball with my friends again.”
And assuredly, the Marauders, who improved to 3-0 overall and in the conference with Monday’s win, are thrilled to have Consiglio — whose first entry into the game midway through the first quarter drew a standing ovation from the BG fans — back on the floor.
“He’s not quite 100 percent yet, but he’s been itching to get back out on the floor,” BG coach Ryan Lestochi said of Consiglio. “It’s been a long time coming, and he got a standing ovation here tonight. Getting him back definitely provides a spark for us.
“Taurean makes a huge difference,” Lestochi added. “He’s one of the best players in the area on both ends of the floor.”
Consiglio’s return to the lineup makes BG’s potent running, rebounding and sharp-shooting offensive attack look almost scary good.
Junior Grant Okonak scored a game-high 16 points for the Marauders, who also got 14 from sophomore Alex Krimmel and 10 from senior Jake Kissell in wiping out an early 7-2 deficit to go ahead, 26-16 after one quarter and 56-28 at intermission before kicking the running mercy-rule clock into play midway through the third quarter.
“We were trying to play our style of basketball game tonight … fast-paced, getting into the paint for points, or kicking the ball out to the 3-point line,” Okonak said. “We’ve been working real hard in practice, and in the games, we’re trying to keep the intensity up for four quarters.”
BG put together a 12-5 run to close the first quarter, then dominated the second period, 30-12, as Okonak and Krimmel both scored 14 first-half points.
“I thought our kids played hard tonight, but it was a bad night for us to run into a great team,” said Tyrone coach Luke Rhoades, whose Golden Eagles dropped to 3-3 overall and in the conference. “The ball didn’t go in the basket for us tonight, and it did for them.
“A game like this shows how hard they work in the offseason,” Rhoades added.
Senior Ashton Emigh and junior Ben Walk scored 14 points apiece for Tyrone, which converted 18 of its 47 floor shots for a 48.6 percent clip.
BG, which converted 32 of 57 shots for 56 percent, outrebounded Tyrone, 29-17, with Kissell grabbing a game-high eight and sophomore Tyler Lightner corralling seven.
Tyrone hosts its Judge Fred B. Miller Memorial Holiday Tournament next Monday and Tuesday, opening play with a game against Penn Cambria Monday night.
BG heads west to play Butler on Saturday and New Castle on Sunday. Both games are at North Allegheny High School.
After falling behind early in the first quarter against Tyrone, the Marauders showcased their high-octane running game that can ring up a ton of points in a very short amount of time and makes them a team that is very difficult to defend – especially now that Consiglio is back in the fold.
“Late in the first quarter today, we got back to our pace of play, which is fast,” Lestochi said.
TYRONE (45): A. Emigh 5 4-4 14, Woomer 1 0-0 3, M. Emigh 2 0-0 4, Walk 6 0-0 14, Parsons 0 0-2 0, Gwinn 0 1-4 1, Oakes 1 0-0 3, Rudden 3 0-0 6, Stroup 0 0-0 0, Zupon 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 5-10 45.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (78): Kissell 4 2-2 10, Ruggery 4 1-1 9, Krimmel 5 1-2 14, G. Okonak 6 3-4 16, Lestochi 3 2-2 8, C. Okonak 2 0-0 5, Consiglio 6 0-0 12, Misiura 0 0-0 0, Baker 1 0-0 2, Shellenberger 1 0-0 2, Lightner 0 0-0 0, Ianuzzi 0 0-0 0, Walters 0 0-0 0. Totals — 32 9-11 78.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 16 12 8 9 — 45
Bishop Guilfoyle 26 30 12 10 — 78
3-point goals: Tyrone 4 (Walk 2, Woomer, Oakes); Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Krimmel 3, G. Okonak, C. Okonak).
Records: Tyrone (3-3); Bishop Guilfoyle (3-0).
Officials: Clark Adelman, Randy Burkett, Jack McDougal.
JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 46-12. High scorers–Connor Zupon, T, 8; Tyler Lightner, BG, 12.
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