By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
ELYRIA – After trailing by double digits in the first quarter, the Elyria Christian boys rallied back over the remaining three quarters at home on Tuesday and managed to beat visiting Sedgwick by two points, 48-46.
Sedgwick blitzed the Eagles at the opening tip and took an 11-0 lead at on point before leading 14-2 at the end of the first eight minutes of play. The Eagles offense kicked in in the second quarter and they put 20 points on the scoreboard to just nine for the visitors, giving Elyria the opportunity to pull back to within one point, 23-22, at the halftime break.
Coming out of the break, the Eagles took a one-point lead by the end of the third quarter and held on to gain the final two-point victory.
“We started this game a lot like we did on Saturday except that we showed a little toughness after getting down 11-0 at the start,” noted Eagle head coach Zach Goodrich. “We battle back and maintained our composure. Sedgwick is a disciplined, well-coached and physical team. It took a complete effort from all our guys to win this game.”
Elyria won the game despite being out rebounded 29-19. The Eagles shot 43% from the field and made eight three-pointers in the game while recording 13 assists on 15 field goals made.
Ty Romero continued to shoot lights out from distance as he connected on four three-pointers and led the Eagles in scoring with 15 while Keyan Wiggers chipped in with 10 and both Andrew Huxman and Johnny Unruh each scored eight. Caleb Laney and Unruh led the team in both rebounds with five and four as well as assists where they each dished out four. Unruh led the defense with four steals while Huxman swiped three.
Coach Goodrich concluded his post-game reflections by saying, “Ty (Romero) continues to hit the three-ball when it counts and Keyan (Wiggers) finished well around the rim which is something we’ve been focusing on. Caleb (Laney) hit our game winning three-pointer, which didn’t surprise me because he is a gamer and makes big plays when the game is on the line. Overall, I am extremely proud of all our guys, and believe this win against a tough opponent will help us continue to focus on getting better.”
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Sedgwick 14 9 10 13 46
EAGLES 2 20 12 14 48
TEAM STATS:
Sedgwick = FG 17/38 (45%); 3-PTR 5/16 (31%); FT 7/10 (70%); AST 13; REBS 29; TO 14; STLS 6; BLK 1; PF 15.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLES = FG 15/35 (43%); 3-PTR 8/20 (40%); FT 10/19 (53%); AST 13; REBS 19; TO 8; STLS 10; BLK 1; PF 13.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:
Scoring (48 Total Points): Ty Romero – 15; Keyan Wiggers – 10; Andrew Huxman – 8; Johnny Unruh – 8; Caleb laney – 7.
Three-Pointers Made (8): Romero – 4; J. Unruh – 2; Huxman, Laney – 1.
Rebound Leaders: Laney – 5; J. Unruh – 4; Wiggers – 3, B. Unruh – 2.
Assist Leader: J. Unruh, Laney – 4.
Leader in Steals: J. Unruh – 4; Huxman – 3.
Leader in Blocked Shots: Wiggers – 1.