NEW MADISON — Eaton’s boys’ basketball team continues to play hard, but struggle with consistency, according to coach Alex Prater. The Eagles recently traveled to Tri-Village High School to compete in the Patriots’ holiday tournament, but dropped both games during the weekend.
The tournament was held on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 29-30.
“We are in a really tough stretch right now. We have great kids, who are working hard, but unfortunately we have been unable to put together consistent enough play to be successful.” Prater said.
“We will continue to focus on the process and work hard each day in order to improve and enable ourselves to be in position to be successful.”
Eaton dropped the opening game of the tournament to Ansonia, 58-38, on Friday, Dec. 29. The Eagles were unable to get going offensively, fell behind early in the game, and were not able to recover.
“On Friday night we had a hard time getting anything going on the offensive end and lost to Ansonia. We turned the ball over far too often and really struggled shooting the ball.” Prater added.
Grant Sullender led the team with 11 points and Owen Baumann added 10.
In the consolation game on Saturday, Eaton was able to get the offense on track against Tri-Village, but could not come away with a win, falling 58-53.
The third quarter proved to be the key in this one, as the Patriots turned a two-point halftime deficit into a lead. Eaton was outscored 19-5 in the period.
“On Saturday, we played very inconsistent and had a very poor third quarter that ended up being too much for us to overcome.”
Sullender again led the Eagles with 21 points. Isaac Manning added 13.
“Our goal right now is to be 1-0 each day. Meaning if it’s a practice, we want to be out working our opponents and improving at a high rate. If it’s a game night, we want to play the way we need to and give the effort necessary to be successful on that night.
“We believe that by taking a day by day approach and focusing on the things that we can control, we will be better in the long run and get this program headed in the right direction. We have a lot of work to do and we’re excited to get in the gym and improve.
Eaton will return to the court at home on Friday, Jan. 5, hosting Brookville. They follow with a road game on Saturday at Ross an are scheduled to travel to Edgewood on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
