Sports
Eastern Boys And Girls Head Into Christmas With Five Victories Each
By: Brandon Monty
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The holiday season is a time to be thankful, and the Eastern Eagle basketball teams have certainly given their fans plenty to be thankful for so far this season.
With the holiday season in full effect, both teams will head into Christmas with five victories. The boys stand at 5-2, 4-1 TVC-Hocking, having won four of their last five contests. On the girls’ side, Jacob Parker’s squad stands at 5-3, 5-0, but have yet to fall short against any TVC-Hocking opponent, winning their first five conference games.
Eagles
Since falling short against Chesapeake in blowout fashion back on Dec. 4, David Kight’s Eagles have been red hot. After scoring just 34 points in that contest on 30 percent shooting, the green and white offense has looked revamped. They’ve scored 60 points or more in all but one of their last five contests – the exception being a loss to Waterford on Dec. 18.
While the offense has looked revitalized, coach David Kight prioritizes defense more than any other facet of the game.
“We go offensively as well as we go defensively”, said Kight. “When we attack defensively, it translates to offense. We’re also learning how to move the ball more effectively and shooting with more confidence each and every game”.
The Eagles will have a 13-day break from games ahead of them after defeating Miller on the road on Dec. 21. Coach Kight was reassuring that despite the long hiatus from games, they will not be rusty headed into their next matchup.
“I’ve been thinking about how to approach this break for a while now. We have the practices mapped out pretty well, so I don’t see rust being an issue. We’ve been working extremely hard all season and that won’t change despite their break”.
The boys won’t be back in action until 2019, when they host Federal Hocking on Jan 4.
Lady Eagles
On the girls’ side, the Lady Eagles have certainly started off on the right foot in terms of chasing a TVC-Hocking title. Jacob Parker’s Eastern squad has gone a flawless 5-0 in conference play so far this season, as their defense has failed to surrender more than 44 points to any of their conference opponents this season.
Despite their fast start, Coach Parker knows that the conference has plenty of worthy competition, and that the Lady Eagles will have to play to the best of their abilities each and every night to win every game.
“The conference is really a toss-up this year”, said Parker. “We always have a goal to win the TVC-Hocking at the start of every year, and I am definitely optimistic that we can do so this year with the talent that we have. There’s a lot of good teams in our conference, but we can get it done if we continue to improve and play to the best of our ability.
The Lady Eagles split their two contests from this past week, earning a decisive victory over South Gallia on Thursday and falling short against and undefeated Notre Dame squad on Saturday. Their next two contests will both be on the road against conference opponents. The Lady Eagles will face Waterford on Dec. 28 in what will be their last contest of 2018, and then travel to Federal Hocking on Jan. 3. Conference games o the road can certainly be tough, but Coach Parker knows that his team is ready for the challenge.
“We’ve been at home most of this season, and it’s been great to have such a supportive community backing us night in and night out. That being said, it’ll be tough being away from home the next two games, but I know we can get it done. We’ve dealt with adversity plenty of times already this year, and we will do so again”.