Eagles dump Devils

The Oran Junior High School boys basketbal teams picked up 2 wins last night against visiting conference rival Chaffee.  The 7th grade won 49-31, while the 8th grade dropped the Red Devils 43-24.

In the opener, the Eagles fell behind early.  Back to back easy buckets, against the press, by Chaffee expanded their lead to 8-3 just less than half way through the first period.  A quick time out by Head Coach Joe Shoemaker led to adjustments and Oran went on a 12-0 run to end the quarter and a 17-4 run into half-time. for a 30-12 lead.

The two teams played even in the second half.

Coach Shoemaker said, "We did a good job of adjusting the press defense and we were able to speed Chaffee up and create turnovers."

Samuel Shoemaker led all scorers with 14.  Seth Cauble had 10 points and was 2-2 from the line.  Robby Menz provided a spark off the bench as he also scored 10.

Kolton Payne added 8 points, Nick Romas chipped in 5 points and Nic Massey also hit 2 of 2 from the charity stripe for his points.

Landon Avery, Landon Cochran, Ryan Burke, Parker Diebold, Connor Gage and Camdyn Triplett played, but did not score.

The younger team was 5-7 for 71% on free throws.

In the nightcap, the Eagles held a tenous two point lead at the intermission, 19-17.

But, it was all home team in the second half as Oran outscored the visitors 24-7 during the final 12 minutes for the 19 point win.

Coach Shoemaker commented, "The 8th grade saw a box and one defense for the first time this year and it took a little while to adjust to it. I thought they came out the second half and really picked up their defense."

The Eagles were led by Ty Johnson's 23 points.  He was the focus of the gimmick defense and was held to only 8 points during the first half but picked up 15 in the final two quarters.  He hit one three-pointer.  Dane Shands also reached double-figure scoring with 11.

Kaleb Gosche added 4 points.  Keaton Stepp and Shoemaker both chipped in 2 and Drew Smith hit a free throw for his lone tally.

Waylon Shaffer, Gage Phillips, Cauble and Romas all saw the floor.

The older boys hit half of the free tosses.  They were 10-20.

The 7th grade is now 2-2 in conference and 8-2 overall.  The 8th grade is 4-0 in league play and they too are 8-2.

The teams will be on the road this evening at 6 pm for another conference match up, this time at East Prairie.