The Eureka High School boys basketball team endured a demanding stretch last week, playing three games in four days to cap an intense run of eight contests in 16 days. The Tornadoes faced tough competition at home against Garden Plain High School and El Dorado High School before finishing the week on the road at Bluestem High School. Despite a pair of challenging losses, Eureka bounced back to close the week with a decisive win.
vs. Garden Plain
The Eureka High School boys played the Garden Plain Owls Tuesday night at home. The Tornadoes lost this game 31-61.
As the score indicates, this was not a good game for the Tornadoes. The Tornadoes ran into an Owl’s team that shot better than 50% from the field, including 47% from the 3-point line. This, combined with the Tornadoes’ shooting woes decided the game. Another factor in the loss was the Tornadoes’ poor rebounding. They lost the rebound battle by 20. In the first quarter, the Tornadoes, feeding off the energy of the crowd, competed with the bigger Owls, ending the quarter with a 7-11 deficit. However, the Owls got on track in the second quarter, outscoring the Tornadoes 7-21. They never looked back, as they gradually increased that 18-point lead to the 30 point lead they had at the end of the game.
Junior Tyson Coon led the Tornadoes with 11 points. Junior Easton Mead added 9 and sophomore Brody Mitchell had 7. Senior J.P. Guillaume finished the scoring for the Tornadoes with 4.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final EHS 7 7 8 9 31 GPHS 11 21 15 14 61
vs. El Dorado
The Tornadoes then played the El Dorado Wildcats Thursday night, Feb. 12 at home. The Wildcats doubled up the Tornadoes, winning 6432. The Tornadoes had no answer for the bigger and faster Wildcat squad, giving up most of the points on transition baskets. When the Tornadoes were able to set up their defense, they did well, playing the 4A squad evenly. However, those opportunities were few.
Coon scored 17 points for the Tornadoes. Senior Cole Ptacek, Guillaume, and Mitchell all had 4. Senior Tim Aguilar closed out the scoring with 3.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final EHS 6 12 10 4 32 EDHS 17 14 15 18 64
@ Bluestem
The Tornadoes then traveled to Bluestem Friday night, Feb. 13 to complete their 8th game in 16 days. The Tornadoes quickly overwhelmed the Lions, ending the first quarter 22-11. Although it is hard to judge because the Lions’ squad was overmatched, the Tornadoes played well on both sides of the ball, suffocating the Lions with their tenacious defense and finding their rhythm on offense. The Tornadoes also rebounded well, attacking the glass with purpose.
Coon led the Tornadoes with a whopping 32 points, benefiting from teammates who constantly hit him with passes on cut-backs. Mitchell added 10, Ptacek had 8, senior Davian Damron had 7, and Mead had 6. Aguilar had 2 points as well.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final EHS 22 19 19 5 65 BHS 11 8 11 3 33
Up Next
The Tornadoes have two games next week to end the regular season. They play Lebo Tuesday night at home and at Cherryvale Thursday night. They then go on the road to play the first round of substate the following week.
