Eagles defeat 'Devils

The Oran High School boys basketball teams defeated the Chaffee Red Devils last night.  The junior varsity won the conference affair 57-34.  For the varsity, it was also a district contest and they prevailed 65-47.

In the opener, the Eagles led 18-6 after one and 37-19 at the break.  From there they coasted to the 23 point final margin.

Coach Joe Bickings said, "It’s always nice to get a win against a conference opponent.  We did a decent job in our press to turn them over or force them into some quick shots.  By doing that, it helped create easier open looks for us.  We still had some mental letdowns at times but for the most part, we were able to make up those mistakes by playing hard.  Hopefully, in the next few practices, we can work on eliminating our mental letdowns and make sure we are in the right spots when we need to be there.  I felt like last night was a step in the right direction to getting better but we have to keep moving forward and not take any steps backward."

Playing just two-quarters, Cooper Priggel led the Eagles with 13 points.  Nine of his point came from beyond the arc.  Dane Shands and Samuel Shoemaker both finished with 10.  Shands hit two treys.

Seth Cauble and Cameron Westrich each had eight.  Cauble also hit two three-pointers.  Diesel Cato had five, including a trey.  Kaleb Gosche had two and Lane Peterson hit a free throw to round out the scoring.

As a team, they were 3 of 9 from the line for 33%.

They are now 3-2 in Scott-Miss play and 8-4 overall.

The varsity Eagles started slow but held a 38-19 halftime lead.  Then they came out flat and saw the lead dwindle to single digits, regrouped and picked up an 18-point decision.

Oran was down 7-4 about midway through the opening period.  Then the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to close out the period, thanks in large part to Cooper Priggel, who knocked down two big threes off the bench.  Oran led 15-7 after one.

With 1:51 remaining in the third, the Eagle lead was only 45-37 and the game was interrupted for about twenty minutes because of a medical emergency in the bleachers behind the Oran bench.   After the patient was transported, the Eagles regained some intensity and with 3:00 left in the game, the lead had ballooned to 20, 62-42.

Coach Joe Shoemaker said, "We were able to go to Chaffee and pick up a victory from a conference and district opponent. They made a run and we were able to answer it which was good to see. We need to be more fundamental with our passes but we will focus on that in practice the next couple of days."

Jacob Shoemaker was the game's top scorer with 22.  He hit two from beyond the arc and was 6 of 6 from the line.  Ty Johnson added 14.  Todd Priggel, who left the game during the second half after landing awkwardly following a drive to the basket, finished with 10.  He did return to the court a short time later.

Cooper Priggel had nine, including two treys.  Langdon Scheeter and Tyson Goodale both ended up with five.  Scheeter hit one from beyond the arc.

The older boys were 12 of 17 at the charity stripe for 71%.

They improved to 5-0 and 15-1 respectively.

Oran will be back in action on Friday when they host Bell City.  It will be two quarters of jayvee, followed by varsity and then Homecoming ceremonies.  The action tips at 6 pm.