Ahead of Class 2A, Region 2 district tournament action this week, Eupora closed out the regular season with two more games and mixed results.
The Eagles took home a win to start the week when they played host to Vardaman for senior night and celebrated the careers of Zak Morris and Mark Pass. Morris was not going to be denied as he lit up the gym one final time with 32 points and carried his team to a 50-45 win over Vardaman.
Morris hit 12-of-16 from the free throw line as he drove to the basket and picked up fouls and Vardaman couldn’t overcome his massive performance. Only four other players scored in the game for the Eagles but his work was good enough to lead to a win.
In game two of the week against rival Choctaw County, the Eagles needed a lot more help defensively. CCHS scored 32 points in the first quarter and 52 in the first half as they rolled to victory in a 68-37 game.
Morris had 11 points but nine of those came in the first half on a trio of 3-pointers.
Eupora goes into the Region 2 tournament at East Webster just 4-15 overall, but they finished second in the district and will get a bye to the semifinals on Thursday. They will go head-to-head against No. 3 seed J.Z. George there at 8:30 p.m. against a team that they beat 59-52 just last month.
GIRLS
Jonathan Childs’ Lady Eagles continued their skid this season as they dropped both games to Vardaman and rival Choctaw County to end the regular season 1-20.
Vardaman swept the season series with a 57-28 win earlier in the week as the Lady Rams took a 31-20 lead at the half and then held Eupora to just three points in the third quarter to pull away for good. M’Nyja Young led the Lady Eagles with 16 points but the rest of the team had 12.
Young was again the leader against CCHS as the Lady Eagles put up a fight against their rivals up a classification in 3A. Eupora couldn’t overcome back-to-back quarters in the second and third that produced three and four points respectively and it cost them in a 47-40 loss.
Despite yet another loss, Childs felt his team has been playing much better basketball down the stretch.
“The last week we’ve had really good practices and competed well,” Childs said. “Vardaman is going to compete in the postseason and Choctaw County is always a good team. We felt like we’ve been prepared for the district tournament coming up so we’re really excited.”
Young led Eupora against the Lady Chargers with 18 points and Rakayshia Triplett had 10 points. The CCHS Dandy Dozen center La’Genesis Johnson was too much to handle with 23 points for the Chargers.
With only one win on the schedule and zero wins in Region 2, the Lady Eagles get a chance at redemption on Tuesday night when they play against J.Z. George in the first round of the tournament. The game pits two teams that played earlier this year with a 44-29 loss on Eupora’s resume.
“We’ve got to control the basketball and can’t just turn it over. I think if we can make them earn possessions and baskets, we’ll be in good position,” Childs said of the game against J.Z. George. “They’re going to bring pressure, but we’ve handled that well the last few weeks. We can’t allow ourselves to beat ourselves, we just have to play our game.”
If Eupora wins, they’ll play No. 1 seed Calhoun City on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
