Eagles beat Hornets in NECC tournament

Thursday, 19 January 2012 11:49

(Chris Jones splits the defenders during the Westview game and finished with six points on the night. Jones had 12 points against Angola in the Eagles’ first round win.) photo by hiatt

by Don Hiatt
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The Churubusco Boys Basketball team started their NECC tournament at Angola facing the Hornets and beat Angola 44-32 in first round action.
Beginning the game with fashion, Tyler Arrowsmith tips the ball to Dylan Jones who passes the ball to Josh LeFever who scores the first basketball within three seconds of play. The Eagles would then go on a 6-0 run getting the baskets from Arrowsmith and LeFever. Angola then got on the scoreboard with two and Chris Jones would answer back with two more points for the Eagles. Angola would made a three-pointer and a two-pointer to make it 8-7 at the end of the quarter. “If you go back 15 years, we have only beaten Angola three times before tonight,” said Coach Michael McBride. “In those three wins, we have never beaten them at Angola.”
To open the second quarter, Churubusco got the first points on the scoreboard with a three from Austin Goepfrich. Angola answered the three with a two-point bucket. The Eagles would turn the ball over and Angola would score again making it 11 all. Then Churubusco took control going on a 9-0 run with Dylan Jones, Arrowsmith, and Chris Jones all scoring for the Eagles to make it 20-11 at half. “I’m real proud of our guys,” explained Coach McBride. “We did what we had to do to get the job done and the job was to get a win and move on in the tournament.”
Churubusco began the third quarter with a bucket from LeFever. Angola would answer with a bucket. The Eagles would make four in a row and Angola answered back with a three-pointer. Chris Jones made two from the line to make it 28-16 at the end of the third quarter.
Angola scored first in the fourth quarter, but Churubusco’s LeFever answered back with a bucket. The Hornets made a three-pointer but then fouled LeFever who would make both free throws. After Angola made another basket, they fouled Goepfrich who made both free throws. Angola would then continue to put Churubusco on the line. The Eagles went 6-8 on that stretch making it 38-25 Churubusco. Angola would then go on a 5-0 run before Churubusco made four points to end the game 44-32 Churubusco. The Eagles shot 18-20 from the charity stripe in the second half to clinch the victory for Churubusco. “We were really good on the free-throw line tonight,” stated Coach McBride. “That’s the one thing that we talked about at halftime, that we need to get on the line more.”
The Eagles faced the Westview Warriors in the second round of the tournament at Westview losing a close game 38-30.
The Eagles started the game on a 6-0 run with baskets by Dylan Jones, Chris Jones, and Austin Goepfrich. Westview didn’t get their first point until 4:22 on a free throw. Then Westview finally made a two-pointer. Churubusco missed two free throws and Westview answered with a bucket of their own to make it 6-5 Churubusco at the end of the first quarter. “I thought we had a really good game plan tonight,” said Coach McBride. “I also thought that our kids executed well.”
Churubusco scored first in the second quarter off a bucket from Chris Jones. Westview would then tie it up with a three-pointer making it eight all. Arrowsmith made a bucket, and Westview answered with a bucket. Chris Jones made a basket, then Westview made a three taking the lead for the first time in the game. Churubusco’s Goepfrich would make a bucket giving the lead back to Churubusco with 2:12 left in the half. Churubusco’s defense held the Warriors and forced them to miss the last bucket of the game giving the Eagles the lead 14-13 at half. “We were not good enough on the free-throw line tonight,” explained Coach McBride. “That hurt us tonight.”
Arrowsmith started the third quarter for the Eagles with two points. The Warriors would then go 3-4 from the free-throw line making the game 16 all. Westview would then go on a 10-0 run before Churubusco would get two points from Arrowsmith. The Warriors would get three more points and Arrowsmith answered with two for the Eagles. Westview would make another basket at the buzzer to make it 28-20 Westview with one more quarter left to play. “Third quarter hurt us,” stated Coach McBride. “We had too many turnovers and gave up too many easy buckets for them.”
Chris Jones started the fourth quarter with a two-point basket and one from the line. Westview answered with a bucket of their own. Dylan Jones got the Eagles two more points off an offensive rebound. Westview made a basket and Arrowsmith made two from the line. Westview made two more from the line and LeFever would make the first out of two from the line. The Warriors would get five more points from the free-throw line to seal the win at 38-30 Westview. “We fought hard tonight,” said Coach McBride. “We played a good team and came up just short at the end.”