The Eagle Grove basketball teams made the hour-long trek southwest to West Bend on Monday, December 19th, to face off against the Wolverines. The Wolverines had the home turf advantage at West Bend-Mallard High School, but the Eagle boys came to fight and it made for a night of great varsity basketball drama. The Wolverines entered the game with a record of 3-2, while the Eagles had a record of 1-5.
The Eagles started strong, scoring 13 points in the first period, to the Wolverines 9. But in the second period the Wolverine's brought the heat, putting 23 more on the board as the Eagles put up another 10. And so the Wolverines took a 32-23 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter the Eagles and The Wolverines played tug-of-war. The Eagles put 18 on the board, and the Wolverines put up 20.
By the numbers, the teams were closely matched and each excelled in different aspects of play. Through the game the Eagles built a field goal percentage of 44.9% while the Wolverines hit 47.7%. But factoring in three pointers (12 by the Eagles, 5 by the Wolverines) the effective field goal percentages shifted to 57.1% for Eagle Grove, and 51.5% for WBM. The Eagles outdid the Wolverines in free throws too, 73.3% to 70% with 11 out of 15 tries sunk by the Eagles, vs. 7 out of 10 by the Wolverines. But in assists the Eagles had 16, to the Wolverines' 19. The Eagles had 5 steals to the Wolverines' 7. Eagle Grove had 14 turnovers to WBM's 8. And the Wolverines led the Eagles in rebounds, with 38 total (18 offensive, 20 defensive) to the Eagles' 25 (7 offensive, 18 defensive). The two teams tied in fouls at 11.
In the fourth the Eagles turned up the heat, pouring another 26 points out onto the board. The Wolverines put in a solid effort too, pegging another 20, but just couldn't keep up. And yet, unfortunately for the Eagles, those rebounds and turnovers had already piled up against them and the Wolverines' second period remained decisive, with the final score running up to 74 to 67 for the Wolverines.
Leading Eagles were Drake Canavan, Jaxon Morris, and Jordan Morris. Canavan, a junior, scored a team-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds, 2 offensive rebounds, and 2 steals. Jaxon Morris, a sophomore, scored 23 points and had 4 rebounds, 1 offensive rebound, and 3 steals. Jordan Morris, a senior, scored 14 points and had 4 assists.
