EATON — Eaton’s varsity boys basketball team continues to battle through a rough stretch of its schedule, but continues to play hard and gain experience. The Eagles dropped two games this past weekend, including an SWBL matchup with Brookville.
The Eagles hosted the Blue Devils on Friday, Jan. 5, and suffered a 74-50 loss. Eaton got off to a great start in this one, leading at the end of the first period, 16-15. Brookville, however, got its offense on track in the second period, taking advantage of several Eaton defensive break downs. The Blue Devils outscored Eaton 27-10 in the period.
“After a solid first quarter, we struggled in the second quarter when our defense broke down,” Eaton coach Alex Prater said. “Give credit to Brookville, they did a great job executing their offense and making shots. We did not execute well defensively and had many missed assignments in our coverages. We compounded our defensive issues by committing too many live ball turnovers.”
Eaton played more consistently in the second half, but could not overcome the Blue Devil’s first half lead.
Eaton was led by Grant Sullender with 13 points.
“Chayse Gray came off the bench and played well also, giving us a presence inside,” Prater added.
“This has really been a rough stretch for our team, but we are learning and growing, even if it is not easily recognizable on game night quite yet.”
On Saturday, Eaton lost to Ross, 48-43. They were led by freshman Travis Pittman with 15 points.
“Travis shot the ball extremely well, connecting on five of his six 3-point attempts. Chayse Gray also had a good night for us scoring 10 points and doing a great job in the rebounding category,” Prater said. “Aaron Tolliver, Owen Baumann, and James Howard played well on the defensive end of the floor. Grant Sullender did a good job of handling their pressure and getting us into our offense.”
The Eagles struggled from the beginning.
“We got off to a really rough start and didn’t handle the defensive pressure from Ross well. Our kids settled down though and battled back. We had several opportunities to seize control of the game, but couldn’t make the plays we needed to,” Prater said. “I am really proud of our effort and the way we responded to adversity (tonight). It is easy to look at our record right now and be disappointed or negative, but we are proud of the way our players are continuing to work.
“We are focused on the process right now and doing everything in our power to improve the process of preparing for success in order to see a better product on the floor on game nights. There are a great deal of really good people at Eaton who are working hard to build this program the right way. The players, coaches, school, and community are all in this together.”
Despite not getting the results in terms of wins and losses, Prater is confident his team is developing.
“These are some tough times in terms of results, but we have confidence that with continued focus on the process of development and preparation, results will come and we will have opportunities to be successful.”
Eaton is now 1-11 (0-5 SWBL) on the season. The Eagles were scheduled to play at Edgewood on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and are set to host Valley View on Friday, Dec. 12.
