Eastern defends the Nest against the Tomcats
By: Brody Montgomery
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REEDSVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) – The Trimble Tomcats traveled to Reedsville looking to play the Eastern Eagles. The game was a scrappy one, but Eastern would dominate the second half and win 63-42.
Trimble entered the nest looking to get back on track after not being in the win column since the middle of January. This would be a challenging task for the Tomcats since the first time they played Eastern, the Eagles won convincingly by 25 points.
The game would start off slow, but Eastern was able to capitalize on Trimble turnovers and take a seven-point lead midway through the first. It was freshman Emeri Llyod who would nail a three with around a minute left in the quarter to go up 10. Ava Richards would make a layup for the Tomcats at the buzzer to make the score 14-5 after one quarter of play.
Mackenzie Robertson would nail a three to get the second quarter underway for the Eagles. Trimble was able to find some offensive success through their center McKenzie Eing, which would keep the cats in it.
The Eagles were able to force several turnovers and maintain the lead through tough shots from Kyrstyn Fackler and Braelynn Simpson. The Tomcats would clean up their mistakes near the end of the second to really make this game interesting. Brooklyn Burdette would nail a huge three to cut the Eastern lead to just six points with 1:05 remaining in the first half. Both teams would exchange scores and the Eagles would go into halftime with a 28-20 lead.
The third quarter would start with Eings sixth bucket of the night, but MacKenzie Robertson would response with her second three to keep Eastern in the driver’s seat.
The Tomcats’ turnover problems would not go away in the second half as the Eagles were able to suffocate Trimbles’ offense. Fackler would nail a shot from behind the arc and give Eastern a 14-point lead with three minutes to go in the quarter.
Trimble was able to cut the lead back down to 10 following a Laken Smathers corner three, but Eastern would go on a six-point scoring run to get the lead back to 14 as the third quarter ended.
As the fourth got underway, Rilynn Fouts would hit a deep three to give the Tomcats some life. The Eagles would do what they had done all night and force more turnovers, allowing them to keep the double-digit lead. Roberston would nail her third three of the night and extend the lead to 18 points.
From here, there was no looking back for Eastern. The Eagles would continue to hit their shots and go on to win 63-42.
Eastern plays Southern on Feb. 6, looking to give them a tough battle.
As for Trimble, they lose their third game straight but hope to get back on track against Federal Hocking on Feb. 6.