After going down 21-8 at the half, the Eagles basketball team clawed their way back into it a bit during the second half to keep within striking distance. However, they couldn’t seem to mount a challenge in falling 46-35 to visiting Belmond-Klemme.
They had a cold start in the opening quarter, not getting their first points on the board until a bucket by Chase Mason at just over four minutes left. Down 9-2 to start the second period, Orlando Hernandez would drive into the lane from his left side spot and score their second basket at 15-4 B-K. The next time down, Mason drove into the paint, scored and drew the foul. The senior couldn’t hit his throws, and it stayed at 15-6.
Hernandez came back to drive in close for a good look, only to see it not fall through. He was fouled in the act, but couldn’t convert from the line. Before the buzzer for halftime, Drake Canavan would get into the act and went to the line and calmly sank both ends to make the score 21-8 at that point.
The third period saw Desmond Weber drive in, score and draw a foul. He hit the throw to make it 24-11. Hernandez again went down the lane and took the pumpkin up and in for a 27-13 score. Adam Herrington then stepped up and uncorked a pretty three-pointer to make it 29-16. While the Eagles were on a roll by this time, and got within eight, they still couldn’t make enough progress at cutting into the Bronco lead enough for a serious challenge.
Tyler Hansen was fouled on his attempt, making one of two for a 29-17 score. The next time down it was Weber feeding the ball to a waiting Hernandez underneath. His shot was good and he also drew a foul. He hits that free toss to make it 32-20. Right before the end of three it was Weber on a pretty play to score and make it 34-22 starting the final quarter. That would end up being about as close as the home team would get until the final margin.
“To the guys credit, our hustle and hard work allowed us to cut it to eight in the third,” said head coach Ryan Pedersen. “However, we couldn’t fight back all the way. A bright spot was some great hustle by Desmond, Orlando and Adam. All three of those young men worked hard and led vocally by example. Hopefully we can see more of this as the season progresses.”
The team shot 48.3 percent from the field, an even 50 percent from the line and 18.2 percent from three-point range. They made 24 total rebounds, 21 or those on defense, and 12 total assists.
Broncos 46, Eagles 35
Player Pts. Rbs. Ast. Stl.
Canavan 3 4 2 0
Purcell 0 1 3 0
Herrington 6 1 1 1
Weber 7 4 1 1
Mason 8 4 0 0
Morris 2 0 0 0
Hansen 0 1 2 0
Hernandez 9 7 1 0
Pamperin 0 1 2 0
Richardson0 1 0 0
Blocked shots: Herrington 1
Three-pointers: Herrington, Weber 1 ea.
They traveled to Algona on Friday and lost 67-20 to Bishop Garrigan. The Eagles struggled to stay with the Golden Bears from the get-go, and trailed 41-12 at the break. The Eagles shot 22.4 percent from the field, 16.7 percent on free throws and 23.5 percent from three-point land. They had 25 total rebounds, 17 of them off the defensive glass, eight total assists and two total steals.
“This was a tough opponent,” said Pedersen. “It’s really hard guarding a guy that is 6’ 8” and physical, but I thought the boys did a good job. We had some issues with scoring. The boys found out it’s tough to take the ball to the basket when you have a shot-blocker standing right in front of you. Due to this, we tried to score from outside and it just wasn’t our night for that. We need to realize that we are not a three-point shooting team, and so either get to the basket or hit the mid-range jumpers. We will learn.”
Golden Bears 67. Eagles 24
Player Pts. Rbs. Ast. Stl.
Canavan 2 3 0 0
Purcell 2 0 2 0
Herrington 0 0 1 0
Weber 4 4 0 0
Mason 6 4 1 0
Morris 3 0 0 1
Hansen 2 3 3 0
Hernandez 0 4 0 0
Pamperin 3 3 1 1
Richardson2 3 0 0
Three-pointers: Pamperin 1
