The Eureka High School Tornadoes closed out their regular season with a split week, falling at home to the Lebo Wolves before bouncing back with a dominant road win over the Cherryvale Chargers, to round out regular season action.
Against Lebo
The Eureka High School boys lost to the Lebo Wolves Tuesday, Feb. 17, at home, 48-62. The Wolves began the game hot, hitting off-platform shots consistently while the Tornadoes, who got good looks at the basket, were unable to get the ball in the hoop. Ending the first quarter down 5-20, the Tornadoes were never able to recover. However, the Tornadoes fought hard. Their defense held the Wolves to 15 in the second quarter in spite of Lebo’s continued hot hand, going into the half down by 21. The second half was a different story, as stout defense and well-executed offense slowly got the Tornadoes back to a 14-point deficit by the end of the fourth quarter. The 20 points the Tornadoes surrendered in the first quarter proved too much for the Tornadoes to overcome.
Junior Tyson Coon led the Tornadoes with 22 points. Junior Easton Mead and senior Cole Ptacek added 9 each, sophomore Brody Mitchell had 4, seniors J.P. Guillaume and Nate Clark finished the scoring for the Tornadoes with 2 each.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final EHS 5 9 18 16 48 LHS 20 15 14 13 62
Against Cherryvale
The Tornadoes then traveled to Cherryvale to take on the Chargers in their final game of the regular season. Once again, a slow first quarter put the Tornadoes in a hole, down 11-20 after one. The Tornadoes got on track in the second quarter, making up the deficit completely to go into the half tied at 26.
In the second half, the Tornadoes romped, outscoring the Chargers by 16 in the third and by 4 in the final frame, to win the game by 20, 59-39. This Tornadoes team is peaking heading into substate. If they can figure out the slow first quarters, they can do some damage.
Coon led the Tornadoes again with 20 points. Ptacek had 13, Mitchell had 12, and Guillaume dropped 9. Mead completed the scoring with 5.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final EHS 11 15 23 10 59 CHS 20 6 7 6 39
The Tornadoes (#14) play the first round of sub-state Friday, Feb. 27 on the road at 6 p.m., at St. Mary’s Colgan (#3).
