Boys split in Bernie

The Oran High School boys basketball teams split last night in its first games of the new year in Bernie.  The varsity picked up a 66-46 victory over the Mules while the short-handed junior varsity fell 45-29.

In the feature game, the Eagles looked as if they were going to run away with it in the first half, stumbled in the the third quarter and then righted the ship to pick up the 20 point win.

Oran jumped out 20-9 after one and 42-16 at the half.  The Eagles were on fire from the field during the first half.  They hit 5 three pointers during that time, 3 by Max Priggel and 2 by Jacob Shoemaker.

The lead was just short of 30, when Oran went cold and Bernie picked up the pace as they hit 3 of their 5 treys during the third.  The lead was under 20 at 53-35.

The Eagles were able to slow the hosts down in the final period to maintain the lead at a comfortable margin.

Priggel led all scorers with 19, with his three 3's and 6 of 7 free throw shooting.  After being held scoreless during the Christmas tournament consolation final, Shoemaker knocked down 14, including the two triples.  Layne Johnson and Garrison Mangels both added 10.

Cole Priggel chipped in 7, with 5 of 6 from the line.  Preston Hahn and Blake Schlitt scored 2 apiece.

Luke Barnes and Wyatt Kinney played but did not score.

Oran shot well from the line, going 13 of 16 for 81%.

Head Coach Joe Shoemaker told the blog, "The varsity played very well in the first half and answered Bernie's run in the second half. I'm proud of our effort and we will need to have 2 days of good practice to prepare for Saxony on Friday."

The varsity Eagles improved to 7-5 and have now won 4 in a row.

Junior Varsity

The evening did not start out good for Oran.  The jv had not played for three weeks, they were missing two players and Bernie made 7 three's.

The Eagles trailed by 10 after one, 15-5.  They played hosts even in the second and trailed 25-15 at the intermission.

Bernie outscored Oran 20-14 in the second half.

Denver Elfrink was the team's leading scorer with 13.  He had the team's only trey.

Ben Fox had 8 and William Kluesner scored 3.  Avery Mitchem, Joey Phillips and Caleb Read each added a single tally.

Jon Shipley saw action but did not score.

Coach Shoemaker said, "The JV played without Peyton [McVay]because of sickness and Drew [Reischman] because of injury and played very rusty. They played hard we just couldn't get in any rhythm. They hadn't played since 12/15 and it showed."

The younger squad was 6 for 10 from the line for 60%.  Their record now stands at 2-5.

The Eagles host a pair of very good Saxony Lutheran squads on Friday at 6 pm.