Eagles win one

The junior high school boys basketball conference seed meeting took place yesterday not long before last night's home match-up with East Prairie.   The visitors from Mississippi county picked up the top seed at the 7th-grade level and the number two for the eighth grade.  Oran was tabbed two and three, respectively.

So, in what is projected to be the final game of the younger division, Oran picked up the upset win last night, 41-27.

Robby Menz and Kolten Payne hit back-to-back treys to open the scoring and the hometown Eagles never trailed.

Coach Joe Shoemaker said, "I thought the 7th grade did a very good job last night.  They were able to adjust and take away the dribble penetration from East Prairie’s guard.  They also played with more energy and confidence than we had in the last few games.  I was also proud of the boys for taking charges, it isn’t always easy to stand and let someone that's bigger than you run you over."

Camdyn Triblett had a team-high 15 points to lead Oran, now 5-0 and 9-2.

Menz finished with nine while Payne added seven.  Luke Peterson and Nic Massey each had four.  Ryan Burke rounded out the scoring with a field goal.

They hit 8 of 17 from the line for 47%.

The older team started out slow.  They trailed 13-4 after the first period and never caught up.

Coach Shoemaker said, "The 8th grade competed very well but we gave them to many extra shots off of offensive rebounds and turnovers.  When we don’t shoot a high percentage and we give the other team more shots it usually doesn’t end up as a good thing.  After the 1st quarter, they beat us 17-15 so we obviously needed to get off to a better start to the game.  They were tall and lanky and that gave us trouble trying to pass the ball and they capitalized on our turnovers."

Quentin Senciboy led the stagnant Eagle scoring attack with six.  Seth Cauble had five, including a three-pointer.  Nick Romas added four, while Dalton Scherer and Samuel Shoemaker had two apiece.

They missed all five free throw attempts.

Their record is now 3-2 and 9-2.

On Thursday the Delta Bobcats come to town.  The 8th grade will play first starting at 6 pm.  It will be a full game.  That will be followed by two-quarters of 7th-grade action to close out the regular season.

Shoemaker said, "Delta has a very good record and played Kelly and East Prairie close so we will need to be ready to play."