Eagles pound Panthers

The Oran High School boys basketball teams picked up a pair of wins last night against the visiting Meadow Heights Panthers.  The junior varsity won 69-33 and the varsity prevailed 73-51.

In the opener, the younger Eagles were on top 22-12 after one and were up 45-24 at the break.  They continued to expand the margin to pick up the 36 point win.

Ty Johnson, who was back after missing Tuesday's game due to illness, showed no side effects, leading all scorers with 16.  He hit two treys and was one of four Eagles in double-digits.

Tyson Goodale saw action in only two quarters and put in 13 points. Langdon Scheeter and Miles Trankler both had 12.  Trankler hit both of his free throw attempts.

Cooper Priggel scored six, all of them coming from beyond the arc.  Kaiden Massey and Dane Shands had two apiece.  Dawson Menz and Logan Rose each added a free throw.

Oran was 7 of 11 from the free throw stripe for 63.6%.

They are now 7-1 on the season.

The varsity game started out quickly for the Eagles.  They led 6-0 when the Panthers took a timeout with 6:27 left in the quarter.  After the huddle, Meadow Heights hit a three to cut the deficit in half.  The rest of the period was nip and tuck.  Oran led by only one, 15-14, with the clock ticking down to zero, when Jacob Shoemaker hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Eagles an 18-14 lead after one.

At the intermission, Oran had increased the margin to 16, 38-22.

In the last few games, the third quarter has been the Achilles heel for the Eagles.  Not last night though, as Oran outscored the visitors 20-10. and then finished with the 22 point district victory.

Coach Joe Shoemaker said, "I thought overall we played well. We were able to speed them up and get some points off of turnovers. Our half court offense and defense is improving and hopefully, we will continue to improve as the year goes on."

Layne Johnson had 20 points to lead four varsity players in double-digits, also.

Johnson had a trey and was five of six from the line.  Shoemaker had 19 points with two made from beyond the arc.  He hit all six of his attempts at the charity stripe.  Drew Reischman had 13 and Cole Priggel added 10.

Todd Priggel had five, Bradley Brooks had four and Goodale added three.

The Eagles were 18 of 24 from the free throw line for 75%.

The varsity is now 9-3.

Both squads will be back in action on Tuesday when they host conference rival Kelly at 6 pm.