High School boys suffer two close losses

Once again the Oran Eagles high school boys basketball teams had a chance to win late but came up just short.  The jv fell 41-40 and the varsity lost 54-53.

Head Coach Joe Shoemaker had this to say about the evening, "Both teams lost close games at East Prairie which really stinks.  The important thing to do now is to keep our heads up and continue fixing the little mistakes that we are making.  The varsity is allowing 51.5 points per game and the jv is allowing 44.8 which are both decent numbers, which is encouraging.  If we can continue to improve our defensive rebounding and make improvements on the offensive end we will be fine."

The older Eagles led 16-10 after period number one and were up 27-22 at the intermission.  The margin dwindled to three after three, 38-35.  Down the stretch, the score was tied at 53 with 20 seconds remaining, before the final one point loss.

Max Priggel led all scorers with 20, he had one from beyond he arc.  Cole Priggel and Jacob Shoemaker each added 11.

Layne Johnson scored 7, including a trey.  Preston Hahn and Garrison Mangels each chipped in 2.

Oran was 11-20 from the line for 55%.

The Eagles are now 0-2 in conference and 2-3 overall.

Junior Varsity:

In the opener, Oran also led into half-time, 19-16.  During the third period, though, East Prairie took the lead.  The score was 31-28 heading into final quarter, in favor of the home team. The Eagles were able to rally and held a 40-39 lead with 12 seconds left on the clock but were not able to close it out.

Ben Fox was the game's leading scorer with 13. Joey Phillips hit for 9, including a three-pointer.

Drew Reischman had 6, Denver Elfrink scored 4 and Bradley Brooks bucketed a basket for his 2 points.

William Kluesner and Peyton McVay saw the floor but did not score.

Oran shot a fantastic 88% from the charity stripe going 8 for 9.

Their record falls to 0-2 in Scott-Miss play and 2-3 overall.

The younger Eagles will be back in action Thursday evening in the championship game of the Advance Invitational at 7:45 against Bloomfield.

On Friday, it will be a varsity only action at Delta.  Game time is 6 pm.

Here is what the professionals have to say:  Standard Democrat

Thank you Niki Cummins for the photos.