NEW PARIS — Ramy Ahmed scored 22 points to lead Eaton to a 51-36 win over National Trail on Saturday, Jan. 15. The win, coupled with a 54-43 win on Friday over Dixie, extended the Eagles win streak to four straight.
“It was another a weekend of back-to-back games. I felt really, really happy that we came out with a win. So it’s a four-game win streak now and we’ve won six out of our last eight,” Eaton coach Sean Sims said. “Sometimes you got to go on the road and just kind of figure it out. And we did a good job of that and credit to Trail, they played very hard and a lot of energy, a lot of effort. And it’s tough to win at their place. And I’m just happy. We haven’t beat them since 2016.”
Ahmed scored seven points in the opening quarter helping the Eagles to a 12-8 lead against the Blazers, who was missing their top two scorers.
Eaton extended its lead to 23-16 at the half and led 39-30 after three quarter.
“We’re breaking a lot of streaks. And I feel good. We’re back to .500, we’re 7-7 now after starting 0-5. I’m just really happy for our guys. And I’m proud of them and just been working hard. So I’m glad to see the effort paying off,” Sims said.
Beau Miller added eight points, while Christian Reyna and Grant Miller each added seven and six points respectively.
“I have to give credit to have to give credit to where credit’s due,” Sims said. “Ramy brings it every game and I don’t have to worry about the energy, the juice, he’s wired to go and it’s a breath of fresh air having him on the court. Whether it’s him trying to attack and score create for others. It just gives us a great opportunity. I thought collectively our team has been better, playing offensively, doing the right things defensively, communicating, which has been fluid.”
Sims said his team is getting contributions from several players.
“Carson Janney has been playing great. Dominick Gramaglia has been able to come off an injury and give us solid minutes and I’ve been happy with that,” Sims said. “Christian and Beau have been playing there butt off. Sometimes some things don’t fall for them, but they continue to just work hard and look for the next shot.”
Sims said his team has some key games coming up.
”We got eight more games coming up. Really, really important,” he said. “Probably the biggest game of the season for us is coming up on Friday, we’re at Monroe, they haven’t won there in a long time, would be able to give us a win on the other side of the league. So we know what we’re walking ourselves into. But I think we’re pretty laser focused about taking care of business on Friday.”
Against Carlisle, Ahmed led the away with 19 points. Beau Miller added 11, while Grant Miller tossed in nine.
Eaton (7-7, 4-3 SWBL) will play at Monroe for its only scheduled game this week. The Eagles will travel to Valley View on Tuesday, Jan. 25 for a key SWBL West match up.
For Trail, head coach Mike Lockhart is not about making excuses, but he also understands the reality of his team’s current roster situation.
”Thirty-one points a game was not here. But, no, I’m not going to make excuses. The reality is we still had a chance to win the ballgame,” he said. “The reality with us is, I’ve said it before, only two kids returning who had any varsity experience. We don’t have a lot of margin for error. And tonight, it was even slimmer, just like last night. We’re there for two or three quarters. Every game except one since the first year we’ve either been ahead or tied at halftime or first quarter. But you got to play four quarters.”
The Blazers were led by Ethan Murphy’s 11 points. Lane Koehl added 10 and Logan Smith tossed in eight in the absence of Michael Leal and Wyatt House.
”I thought I thought we played pretty hard defensively. I thought we made them work. I know they like to get up and down the floor,” Lockhart said. “I believe last night and tonight we make more shots with the other two kids here. I mean, you know, but, but that’s why it’s called a basketball team. When someone’s not there. Somebody else has got to step up. I thought both last night and tonight were winnable even with us being short handed, but you got to play hard defense for four quarters. And we still haven’t gotten to the point where we really play what I call like, hard all out.”
Trail suffered a 63-32 loss to Dixie on Friday and began the week with a 102-30 setback to state-ranked Tri-Village on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Trail (2-14, 0-7 WOAC), is scheduled to host Ansonia on Friday, Jan. 21 and will travel to Valley View on Saturday.
