Eagles pick up election night wins

The Oran Junior High School boys basketball teams picked up a pair of victories last night over the visiting Scott City Rams.

The 7th grade team avenged an earlier 9 point loss to the Rams by winning a contest that was too close to call until the final points were tallied.  The Eagles jumped out early with a 12-6 lead after the first period.  The two teams played even in the second and Oran was on top 18-12 at the break.  Scott City cut the deficit to two heading into the final six minutes, 22-20.

With 2:49 left in the game the Eagles were up 28-25.  The Rams tied the game at 30 with 1:07 remaining.  Oran led 32-30, when, with 7.8 seconds on the clock Kolton Payne hit two clutch free throws to seal the win.

Robbie Menz led the Eagles with 12 points, Samuel Shoemaker scored 9 and Payne had 8.  Nick Romas put in 3 and Landon Cochran added 2.

Seth Cauble and Nic Massey played, but neither scored.

Oran was 6 of 12 from the line for 50%.

Scott City pick up a win 36-27, back on October 27th.  That game was the one that counted toward the conference standings.

Head Coach Joe Shoemaker said, "The 7th grade played a more complete game with Scott City this time unlike the first time we played them.  I was very happy with our execution late in a close game and hopefully they continue to learn how to win close games."

In game two, the Eagles were projected as the winner by half time as they expanded a 3 point first quarter lead into an insurmountable 31-14 margin at the mid way point.  Oran then cruised to a 50-30 final score.

Ty Johnson and Dane Shands both reached double digits in scoring.  Johnson had 18 and Shands finished with 11.  Both also hit one shot from beyond the arc.

Waylon Shaffer had 8 points, while Kaleb Gosche and Drew Smith both added 4.  Keaton Stepp hit a trey, for his 3 points and Romas chipped in 2 points.

Gage Phillips, Cauble and Shoemaker saw the floor.

The Eagles hit 45% of the free throws (5-11).

Coach Shoemaker told the blog, "The 8th grade was able to bounce back after a disappointing loss in their previous game.  We had better effort from everyone last night and they did a better job of being in the correct spots when they were supposed to be there."

Oran had won the earlier match up,  46-21.

Both Eagle teams are now 6-2 and will travel to Oak Ridge on Thursday to take on the Blue Jays at 6 pm.