Gary
Franklin - Sports Writer
The annual 'Turkey Shoot-Out'
between the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles and the South
Ripley Raiders, was held Tuesday, November
22 at JCD before a large crowd of intense fans.
The Eagles captured the victory and in doing
so, not only won the so called bragging rights
of the contest, but the traveling 'Pride Trophy'
that had been held by the Raiders since the
end of the 2004-2005 basketball season. The
Eagle team entered the contest with evidenced
heart and great intensity, winning by a score
of 80 to 69 at the games final horn.
Adding to the Eagle celebration
was the fact that the Lady Eagles had recently
captured
the girls' 'Pride Trophy" from the Lady
Raider team on Saturday, November 12, defeating
the Lady Raiders 52-42, and have defended their
right to possession of it at Milan against
the Lady Indians on Saturday, November 19,
winning that contest 65-48.
In the boys' annual 'Turkey
Shoot-Out', the Raiders controlled the opening
tip and quickly
got the ball to 6'3" junior Michael Fear
for 2. The Eagles responded with a pair of
field goals by 6'3" junior, Tucker Brown,
giving the Eagles their first lead in the contest
at 4-2, followed by 6'1" sophomore Brandon
Gehl capitalizing on a couple of freebies from
the charity stripe for a 6-2 Eagle lead.
Erik Demaree, a 5'9" Raider sophomore
answered the Raider cause with a field goal
for a 6-4 score. Eagle Gehl scored a field
goal, 8-4, followed by 6'1" Justin Huff
drilling the long distance 3, extending the
Eagle lead to 11-4.
Raider sophomore Chris
Miller, at 5'11" drained
a 3, bringing the game to an 11-7 score. Brown
answered for the Eagles, 13-7, followed by
6'4" Raider sophomore Trent Tucker scoring
his first basket of the game, 13-9.
With under 2:00 remaining in the first quarter,
the Eagles' went on a tear. Huff sank his second
3 point shot, followed by Brown and Gehl each
scoring FG's and Gehl adding a pair from the
foul line, making the score 22-9. Raider Tucker
scored a couple of foul shots ending the first
quarter 22-11 Eagles.
A little over a minute into
the second quarter, Eagle Brown added 2 as
did 5'9" senior,
Kyle Horan for a 26-11 score. First to answer
the drought for the Raiders was Tucker for
a FG, 26-13. Eagles Gehl and Brown again each
added baskets, 30-13. Kyle Patrick a 6'1" Raider
sophomore scored his first basket of the game
for 30-15, but again the Eagles backed baskets
up with a deuce and a trey by Gehl for a 35-15
score. Patrick answered with a Raider bucket,
ending the second half scoring, the game at
35-17 at the halfway mark of the second quarter.
Eagle Gehl scored 1 of two free throws, Raider
Fear scored a basket, Eagle Horan scored a
basket, and Raider Fear converted an old fashioned
three for a score of 38-22.
Adam Vollmer, a 5'8" Eagle senior scored
1 of two free throw attempts, Raider Chandler
Stearns, a 5'11" junior scored a FG, followed
by Eagle Brown's 3 point conversion, taking
the score to 45-24. Raider Fear scored a pair
of free throws and Eagle junior, Andrew Wagner
at 5'10', made one of two from the foul line
winding up the first half scoring with JCD
46 and SR 26.
The Eagles scored 9 straight points within
the first two minutes of the third quarter,
stretching their edge to 55-26. The Eagle scoring
came from Vollmer with 4, Horan -4, and Huff
1.
Raider Michael Matthews, a
5'9" senior,
drained a 3 point shot, adding to a teammate
Demaree bucket, making the score 55-31. Eagle
Wagner converted a 3 point play for 58-31.
Raider Fear dropped in a 3, Eagles Brown a
FG, 2 points off free throws by Eagle Horan,
and 6' Raider sophomore BJ Sieverding drilling
a 3 point shot rounded out the 3rd quarter
scoring for a 62-37 total.
The Raiders mustered a 7 point scoring drive
opening the fourth quarter bringing the score
to 62-44 with 7:00 left in the game. Raiders
responsible for the 7 points were Patrick -3,
Fear -2, and with 2 free throws
Over the ensuing four and a half minutes,
Eagle scoring came from Brown -6, Gehl -6,
Huff -2, and Vollmer with 4 from the foul line
for a total of 80 points in the game.
The Raiders rallied to hold the Eagles scoreless
for the last 1:27 of the contest while shaving
10 points off the Eagle lead. Those points
scored the result of two 3 point FG's by Matthews
for 6, 2 by Tucker, and 2 by Demaree for a
team total of 69.
The final score of 80-69 gave the Eagles the
opportunity to strut their stuff over the Thanksgiving
break.
After the game, some might be deemed awestruck,
others perhaps better described as disgusted,
and yet others would be seen as elated, but
most would agree that they are glad to have
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