JHBB: Eagles take two at Richland

It was the night they drove ol' Dixie down, as Oran managed to come away with two victories on the road last night as they defeated the Richland Rebels 21-19 and 40-34.

Richland's gymnasium, complete with a larger than life Johnny Reb and Confederate flag, was a battle ground for most of the evening, especially during the abbreviated 7th grade contest.

The Rebels, who because of their low roster numbers, used 8th graders on their 7th grade team jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first quarter.  Oran was able to fight back to take a 9-8 lead at the buzzer.

The second quarter was back and forth.  After a scoreless first six minutes, Drew Smith scored all 7 of his points during the final frame including 3-3 from the line to help propel the Eagles to the 21-19 win.

Ty Johnson was Oran's leading scorer with 12 including a three-pointer and 2 clutch free throws for the final margin of victory.  Dane Shands added the other 2 points.

The Eagles were 9-13 from the line for 69% and improved their record to 5-1.

In game two, it looked as if Oran was going to run away with it after jumping out to an early 9-2 lead.  Richland, however, fought back and was able to draw within two, 11-9 after one. Quarter two saw the Eagle lead expand to 18-13.

During the second half, Oran was able to increase its lead into double-digits, 33-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles still led by 10 with less than three minutes remaining, but some empty possessions allowed the Rebels to crawl their way back into it.  The lead was 38-32 with 30 seconds remaining and 38-34 with 15 seconds to go.

With 10 seconds on the clock, Landon Stanberry was fouled and calmly sank two free throws to ice the game, 40-34.

Todd Priggel led all scorers with 15.  Tyson Goodale also scored in double-figures with 11 (9 in the 3rd quarter).

Stanberry had 6, Jakob Findley added 4.  Gabe Fox and Kaiden Massey each chipped in 2 apiece.

The team was 8-16 from the charity stripe for 50%.  They are now 6-0.

After the game, Coach Shoemaker said, "The 8th grade team did a good job of facing some adversity and being able to persevere. We didn't shoot very well and faced some foul trouble but was still able to get a victory. We had a close game and hopefully we will do a better job of managing the game late when we are faced with this scenario again."

Both teams will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Advance for a 6 pm contest.


If the song reference in the lede paragraph whetted your appetite to hear that song here is a link to my person favorite version:  HERE