Injured Eagles fall to Warriors
By JJ Ossola
IV Leader Sports Editor
The injury-plagued Eagles scored 27 of their 57 points in the
fourth quarter, but were unable to overcome the Blackhawk East Warriors during a
recent contest.
The Eagles, suffering from ineligibilities, lost guard Tony
Boykins for the season with an ACL tear and were unsure if guards Eric Heider or
Dave Sabino would be well enough to play.
Coach Mike Riley said, “[I have] called on some role players
to step up and score. Versher has really been a great help in that regard.”
Jermaine Versher led the Eagles with 14 points and three steals.
Elton Barry had 11 points, teammate Wes Hood had 10, and each
had eight rebounds.
The Eagles tried many different line-up combinations to
combat the Warriors’ perimeter shooting but failed to come up with an effective
defense, according to Riley.
The Warriors worked the ball around the perimeter with
effective passing and took almost half of their shots from behind the arc,
scoring 27 points from three-pointers.
The Eagles tried to use their size advantage and work the
inside game but the Warriors were more than willing to give out fouls in the
Jan. 25 game.
Warriors Coach Byron Young said, “You’ve got to be prepared
when you come to IV. Couch Riley’s teams always play hard. I thought that we
played sloppy in the second half and they kept competing.”
The Warriors led for most of the game, by as much as 25, but
the Eagles rallied in the end and narrowed the gap to 11. Three of the Warriors
scored over 15 points with 7/15 shooting beyond the arc.
In other news, three Eagles were ranked nationally in Men’s
Basketball Division I for three point percentage shooting. Hood is currently
ranked 14th with 48.2 percent, Versher is ranked 20th and Heider is ranked 22nd.