Eagles fall in season finale
By Jerry W. Kram
The New Town Eagles lost their final tuneup in preparation for the District 15 Boys Basketball Tournament in New Town, falling to the 15-4 Beulah Miners, 75-55. Eagles’ Senior Darryl Grady reached a personal milestone in the game, scoring his 1,000th career point.
The game opened with both team’s playing tentatively, with just one bucket apiece in the first three minutes of the game. Then the Miners, who were led by Casey Wacker’s 21 points, went on a 14-5 run to open up a double digit lead. The Eagles responded with a seven point run of their own, to narrow the score to 16-14 in the first minute of the second period.
"It looks like we took a step back," said Eagles Head Coach Robert White. "It’s a good thing we have a week to work on that. I think it was nerves. We have five seniors and I think a lot was at stake for them. I don’t think they were mentally prepared for a strong uphill battle. This was the first time they played a team that was as or more physical than us."
After that it was all Miners basketball as they went on a 15-5 run and pulled away for a 39-26 lead at the half. In the second half, the Miners opened with a 9-5 run and built a 20 point lead halfway through the third quarter that they would hold onto for the rest of the game. While the Eagles only had ten team fouls in the first half, most of them came on shooting fouls, giving the Miners 15 points from the free throw line in the half.
