A loss for the Eagles, but what a fight they put up on Tuesday night.
The Eagles hosted Garner-Hayfield-Ventura on Tuesday night, putting pressure on the 5-2 Cardinals throughout the matchup. It isn’t the first time the Cardinals have given the Eagles a hard time, in fact Coach Ryan Pedersen explains, “Ever since we came into this league, Garner has been one of the top three teams in our conference. They are a good team that seems to reload every year.”
With that said, the Eagles sure made the Cardinals earn their victory Tuesday night, as they applied constant pressure. The first quarter started with the Cardinals on top after a few risky passes from the Eagles that led to significant turnovers. These turnovers led to the stacking of points for the Cardinals, as they ended the first quarter 13-4. Perhaps the biggest issue for the Eagles in the first quarter was the lack of shooting attempts. That all changed in the second quarter, however, as the Eagles responded eagerly, and hungrier, it seemed like, as they drained points on the Cardinals. “We moved the ball well and played like a team,” said Pedersen, as he reflected on their success in the first half. After a timeout with 2:21 left in the first half, and the score 13-8 with the Cardinals on top, the Eagles took off! In a matter of two minutes, points were drained down the bucket repeatedly for the Eagles. With just half of a minute left, the Eagles were only down 18-15…that was until SO Drake Canavan leveled the score 18-18 with 29 seconds left in the half. As the clock ticked to zero, the Eagles had come back with a tied score of 18-18.
“I told the boys in the locker room that we needed to keep up the energy level and continue to work as a team,” Pedersen explained. The teamwork of the Eagles was evident in the first half, as they worked together, using each other to assure shots were made, and points were scored.
The third half did not repeat the second, as instead was the complete opposite, though the drive and energy remained throughout the entirety of the game. “The first three minutes of the third quarter we tried to do too much one on one work instead of continuing to work on what was successful in the first half,” said Pedersen. After 14 points were scored by the Eagles in the second half, and five for the Cardinals, the third quarter saw seven for the Eagles and 22 for the Cardinals. As the Cardinals’ lead improved, the Eagles began making minor mistakes, which devolved into major setbacks for them. Pedersen recognized these mistakes and added, “Garner jumped out to a double-digit lead and then we just ran out of gas.” The third quarter ended 40-25 with the Cardinals in the lead. Though the game was over, with 1:03 left the Half-Court-Crusher Jaden Armstead came in. As he marched onto the court, ready to crush another half-court shot, the crowd cheered, as they were ready for his signature shot. Armstead started from the corner rather than at half-court, always keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. When Armstead reached half-court, there was no hesitation. He aimed, shot, and SWISH! The Half-Court-Crusher crushes again! On his first half-court shot of the night, Armstead buried the ball through the bucket, igniting the gym with roaring cheers from the fans. Though the score resulted 53-33, what better way to end off the night than a classic half-court swish from the half-court-crusher himself, Jaden Armstead.
“I was very pleased with what I saw from everyone that took the floor that night,” added Pedersen. He continued, “We played hard, ran our offense, and didn’t stop fighting until the end of the game.”
FR Jaxon Morris led the charts for the Eagles with 11 points, as JR Jordan Morris scored seven along with SO Drake Canavan. JR Tate Richardson contributed five points for the Eagles, along with the closing three pointer from SR Jaden Armstead, the Half-Court-Crusher.
The Eagles will host West Bend-Mallard on Monday, January 3, to tip-off the new year. The game is set to begin at 7:45 PM.
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