By Staff

            PEABODY – Defending their number ten ranking in Class 1A Division I on the road Tuesday, the Elyria Christian boys outplayed and scorched Peabody/Burns for a 38-point, 60-22 victory.

            The win give the Eagles a season record of 7-2 as they prepare for another road trip on Friday to Centre before competing in the Centre Basketball Classic the following week.

            “We have an opportunity to get better this week as we will see different defenses,” said Eagle head coach Zach Goodrich. “It will be important for us to learn how to make adjustments mid-game and find opening gaps against different defensive schemes. I thought tonight we did a good job of finding the open man and playing with a good pace.  We finished the game with 18 assists on 22 made field goals. If we share the ball this way, we will get open shots and it will depend on us making those open looks.”

            As a team the Eagles took 58 shots from the field of which 43 were beyond the three-point arc.

            Doubling up Peabody/Burns in the first quarter with an 18-8 lead, Elyria put another 18 points on the board in the second quarter while holding the home team to just two points, giving the Eagles a commanding 25-point, 36-11 halftime advantage. In the final two quarters the Eagles outscored Peabody/Burns 24-11 to earn the final 38-point win.

            Ty Romero had the hot hand shooting as he connected on six three-pointers in leading the team in scoring with 18 points while Johnny Unruh joined him in double digits with 12 thanks to four three-pointers. Alex Robertson returned from an injury and made three three-pointers to just miss double digits with nine.

Both Johnny Unruh and James Schott directed much of the offense by each dishing out six assists. Landon Schneider led the team inside the paint by grabbing six rebounds with Blake Robertson pulling down five and Unruh getting four. Unruh also had the quick hands on defense as he topped Elyria with five steals as the team totaled 23 steals on the night.

            Coach Goodrich finished out his post-game reflections by saying, “We are excited to have some guys back from injury. Alex (Robertson) was able to see some action after being out since the Goessel Tournament. He was able to see some shots fall and gives us another shooter when teams are in a zone defense. Ty (Romero) was able to hit some shots early in the game and finished with 18. Johnny (Unruh) was able to stay consistent and be a steady playmaker for us. James (Schott) had a great bounce back game and was solid defensively as he did a solid job attacking the basket and finding the paint touches. Landon (Schneider), Caleb (Laney), and Gavin (Robertson) all provided good defensive pressure on the ball and helped to create some turnovers for us to get some run outs.”

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLES at Peabody/Burns

SCORING: ELYRIA CHRSITIAN EAGLES > 18-18-16-8=60; Peabody/Burns > 9-2-10-1=22.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLE TEAM STATS: 2-FGs > 7/15; 3-PTs > 15/43; FTs > 1/3; AST > 18; REBs > 30; TO > 6; STLs > 18; BLKs > 4; FLs > 11.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: SCORING > Ty Romero – 18; Johnny Unruh – 12; Alex Robertson – 9; James Schott – 6; Caleb Laney – 6; Blake Robertson – 4; Landon Schneider – 2; Axton Fields – 2; Gavin Robertson – 1.  3-POINTERS MADE > Romero – 6; Unruh – 4; A. Robertson – 3; Laney – 2.  REBOUNDS > Schneider – 6; B. Robertson – 5; Unruh – 4; Romero, Laney, G. Robertson – 3; Schott, Neufeldt Emmitt – 2.  STEALS > Unruh – 5; Romero, G. Robertson – 3; A. Robertson, Laney – 2.  BLOCKED SHOTS > Romero, Schott, Laney, Silas Rodenbough – 1.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)