Eagle Men ‘Put it Together’ for 98-70 GVC Win

The Eagles started strong and didn't let up until the final seconds during a 98-70 victory over Feather River Saturday afternoon, January 21^st on their home court in Weed.

They improved their conference record to 2-2 (13-9 overall) following a 67-60 loss to visiting Butte earlier in the week. The Eagles led that game 39-29 at the half and 43-29 early in the second half but got outscored 31-10 over the next 11 minutes. They got within two points with 3 minutes to play, then didn't score again.

There was no slowdown against Feather River. The Eagles led 32-18 midway through the first quarter, 50-30 at half time, and 76-41 with just under 10 minutes to play.

Coach Kyle Heath pointed out that Feather River (5-16 overall, 3-2 GVC) had defeated Redwoods (19-3, 3-1) by 20 points three nights earlier at Feather River.

"Feather River is athletic. We used a zone defense to try to make them shoot jumpers," Heath said after the game. "I told our guys to get back to what we do: play hard. That was a big win for us, being 2-2 instead of 1-3, and everybody is close in the GVC… We put it together today."

Heath expressed appreciation for the good crowds that came for both home games after the Eagles had played 19 of their first 20 games on the road.

Four Eagles finished with double digit scoring against Feather River, and 13 different players scored at least one point.

Will Dobson was 7 for 7 from the free throw line and scored 17 points. Zane Lueth scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Dylan Neufeld made 3 three-pointers and had 15 points. Josh Allen scored 12.

As a team, the Eagles made 8 threes and were 19 for 21 from the free throw line, including 13 for 14 in the second half.

Landon Ellis scored 8 points, Cole Bernius 7, Cade Ealy 6, Nick Dore 5, Jacob Condez 4, Braeden Watts 3, Daniel Yancey 2, Starz Saavedra 2, and Cameron Collard 1.

In the loss to Butte, Watts made 4 of the Eagles 6 three-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points. Neufeld scored 13 with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Dore scored 11, and Ealy had 6 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Allen had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Butte had a 51-35 rebounding advantage, including 22 offensive boards. The Roadrunners also had 17 steals and made 12 of 16 free throws, while the Eagles had 8 steals and were 4 for 5 on foul shots.

The Eagles are scheduled to play at Redwoods Wednesday at 5 p.m., then return home to face Lassen (6-12 overall, 2-1 GVC) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28.

By Steve Gerace