Sports
Wahama Rides Hot Second Quarter Over Eastern
By: Clay Benjamin
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The Eastern Eagles’ tough season continued as they fell to the Wahama White Falcons 69-56 Friday night in Reedsville.
Tonight marked the Eagles’ fourth straight loss and their eighteenth loss in their last 19 games dating back to last season.
Both teams came out of the gates stagnant on offense. Both teams combined for 11 turnovers in the first six minutes of the game, with six of those turnovers coming from the White Falcons.
After an up-and-down quarter for both teams, Eastern had a 16-10 lead after the first eight minutes.
Then the White Falcons commandeered the Eagles' nest.
After a slow and sloppy first quarter from the White Falcons, they started the second quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 21 apiece.
Wahama held on to the ball in the second quarter, not turning the ball over once in the quarter. Without turning the ball over, Wahama was able to settle into their offense and put some points on the board.
The White Falcons were able to work the ball down low to Hunter Bradley with ease in the second quarter. The White Falcons went an unheard of 9 for 10 from inside the 3-point arc. Those 18 points from inside the arc put the White Falcons up for good.
Going into the locker room, Wahama led 35-29.
Coming out of halftime, Wahama picked up right where they left off in the first half.
The White Falcons started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to push their highest lead of the night to 14. Wahama continued to work the ball inside to Bradley and he proved to be too much for the Eagles’ defense.
At the end of the third quarter, Wahama led 53-40.
By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Eagles began to look tired, but Wahama did not lift their foot off the gas pedal.
Senior Chase Cook and Freshman Jett Facemeyer, the normal leaders of this Eagles’ squad, sat most of the second half due to foul trouble. Without out those two running the offense, Eastern struggled to set into a rhythm.
Wahama continued to work the ball into the paint throughout the fourth quarter and Eastern’s tired bodies just could not keep up.
Wahama head Coach Mike Wolfe took out Bradley and Wyatt Zuspan with three minutes left in the game and the White Falcons went into cruise control until the final buzzer rang.
Bradley had a big double-double for the White Falcons, as held had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Wyatt Zuspan also had a good night, adding 15 points to the scoreboard while pulling down 3 rebounds.
Christian Speelman scored a team-high 16 points while pulling down 5 rebounds for Eastern. Daschle Facemeyer filled in well for his brother and added 12 points and 3 rebounds of his own.
The Wahama White Falcons (6-8, 5-6) will try to ride this momentum to get back to .500 on the season when they travel to Stewart tomorrow to take on Howie Caldwell and the Federal Hocking Lancers.
The Eastern Eagles (1-17, 1-12) will look to see if they can play a full 32 minutes of basketball tomorrow night as Wellston will land their Rockets in Reedsville.