Varsity comeback bid falls short

There were several occasions during last night's varsity third place game of the Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament when it looked like the Oran Eagles were going be blown off the floor by East Prairie.  But each time Oran found an answer.

The Eagles scored first but trailed after one, 14-12.  East Prairie expanded the lead to 25-17 at the half.

Oran trailed by double-digits in the third before mounting a comeback.

The Eagles pulled to within 1, 36-35 with 2:22 remaining after after Jacob Shoemaker hit two consecutive three's, followed by a old-fashioned 3 by Layne Johnson, leading to an East Prairie time out.  Oran took the lead after a Shoemaker rebound and contested layup at the other end 37-36 with 1:50 remaining.  East Prairie regained the lead and the Eagles trailed 41-39 heading into final frame.

Blake Schlitt tied game at 41 with 7:10 left on two free throws.  But, over the next 2 and a half minutes East Prairie went on a 9-0 run to lead 50-41 when Oran took a time out. at the 4:28 mark.  Shoemaker hit a trey and then a made an "and-one" to cut the margin to 58-52 with 48 seconds left when East Prairie took a time-out.  The Eagles were forced to foul and East Prairie was able to hit 7 of 9 late to hold on for the the three point win.

Despite a cold start, Shoemaker led all scorers with 26 points.  He hit 3 from beyond the arc and was 5 of 6 from the line.  Johnson added 14 for Oran, who fell to 11-9 and has now lost to East Prairie twice this season by a total of 4 points.

Garrison Mangels chipped in 9, Max Priggel had 8 and Schlitt was 2 for 2 from the line for his 2 points.

Neither Preston Hahn nor Wyatt Kinney scored.

The varsity will hit the floor Friday as they host the Leopold Wildcats for homecoming at 6 pm.  There will not be a junior varsity contest because Leopold is down to 8 players.  The theme is "Viva Las Vegas".   Feel free to dress up like Elvis.