VS. CLARION-GOLDFIELD-DOWS
Another loss for the Eagles came Monday night as they faced rivals CGD. The match ended in a crushing defeat for the Eagles, as they fell 74-32 to the, now 10-1, Cowboys.
The first quarter saw a sluggish start from the Cowboys. The Eagles capitalized right from the get-go as they poured nine points over the Cowboys right from the start. This ignited the fire for the Eagles as they continued to pounce pressure on the Cowboys throughout the match…however their streak of points were diminished quickly by the Cowboys as the starting lineup replaced the substitutes who originally started the game. The first quarter ended 20-9 with the Cowboys on top. As the second quarter arrived, the Cowboys continued to take control, powering the Eagles as they dominated the first half. The first half concluded 36-15 with the Cowboys holding a comfortable lead.
The domination from the Cowboys rolled into the second half, as they drilled 26 points over the Eagles. The Eagles also scored their highest amount of points in the third quarter, as they added 12 to the scoreboard. Heading into the fourth quarter down 62-27, the Eagles’ struggle continued. But the crowd roared-on both sides-when the one…the only… “Half-Court Crusher” emerged onto the court. With applause and cheers from the spectators, Jaden Armstead drained a three pointer for the Eagles late in the fourth quarter. Though the Eagles didn’t see a win Monday night, the team showed up with heavy pressure on the Cowboys, and never surrendered their efforts to the score.
“This was a game where we were outmatched from the opening tip,” Pedersen stated, as he later added, “Clarion has a really good group of seniors that just fly up and down the court.”
The game ended 74-32 with the Cowboys on top. The Eagles hosted Belmond-Klemme after their loss to CGD, where they captured their second victory of the season.
STATS vs CGD RBD AST STL BLK PTS
Tate Richarson 5 2 1 0 2
Drake Canavan 4 1 1 0 8
Jordan Morris 0 1 1 0 12
Jaxon Morris 2 1 2 0 5
Kale Wildering 4 0 0 0 3
Cale Gearhart 4 0 0 0 0
Noah Thul 2 1 0 0 0
Jaden Armstead 0 0 0 0 2
Brandon Crail 0 0 0 0 0
Jensen Cooper 0 0 0 0 0
Cole Fourage 0 0 1 0 0
VS. BELMOND-KLEMME
After a difficult loss to CGD, the Eagles fired back with a close victory over the Belmond-Klemme Broncos. Though the Eagles took off in the final quarter, ending the game 74-53, the remained a tight race…but only one could walk out victoriously.
The first quarter saw an extremely close race from both the Eagles and Broncos as the Eagles led the Broncos by only one point to finish the opening quarter. Transitioning to the second quarter, the Eagles were up 14-13. Though the tight race continued, the Eagles managed to pour 19 points over the Broncos, while the Broncos scored another 13. When half-time arrived, the Eagles were up by seven points as the score sat at 33-26.
The third quarter saw another 13 points from the Broncos, as if they just couldn’t break the curse due to their limit of 13 buckets scored. The Eagles, however, saw no trouble at all with scoring. Affing 15 points to their lead, the Eagles were up 48-39 by the end of the third quarter. Though many times the fourth quarter can be seen as the least amount of points scored–depending on the score–both teams scored their highest amount of points in the final quarter. The Eagles finished the Broncos with a final 26 points scored while the Broncos finally broke the curse of 13 points as they scored 14, although it ultimately amounted to nothing as the Broncos were squashed by the Eagles 74-53.
“I was really proud of the team effort, especially after having such a tough game the night before against Clarion,” Coach Pedersen said. He praised the effort of the Eagle boys, and their grind to stay in the game, ultimately achieving success over the Broncos. “The boys played a heck of a game Tuesday night,” Pedersen commented, “Coming out of halftime the boys really wanted to finish the game. We were able to build our lead to 12 but Belmond came back to get the game within five. I thought that Belmond played one of their best games of the season that night. They were able to do a lot of good things and they shot the ball well.”
Next for the Eagles were Bishop Garrigan, as they travelled to Bishop Garrigan on Friday, Jan. 21.
STATS: vs Belmond RBD AST STL BLK PTS
Tate Richarson 10 2 0 0 2
Drake Canavan 7 3 1 0 24
Jordan Morris 7 6 0 0 17
Jaxon Morris 3 2 1 0 21
Kale Wildering 2 0 1 0 0
Cale Gearhart 3 0 0 0 2
Jaden Armstead 1 0 0 0 3
Titan Christensen 0 0 0 0 0
Jensen Cooper 2 1 0 0 5
The Eagles went on to lose 69-47 to the Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears on Friday, Jan. 21. Their next match took place Tuesday, Jan. 25, where they hosted the Lake Mills Bulldogs.
sports@eaglegroveeagle.com.
