Eastern Holds Off Western 57-56 in SOC
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The second meeting between cross-county rivals, Eastern and Western was much like the first meeting. Fast paced and tight, with a close finish … only, this one was closer, 57-56.
“You could pick one possession all throughout and say that was the difference” said Eastern’s Ethan Leist after the game on Litter Media RADIO. “It’s just overall effort for four quarters, we give ourselves a chance to win.”
Trailing 56-54 in the final seconds, Eagles Senior Tucker Leist took advantage of a couple of screens on Eastern’s last possession. Leist sank a three-pointer from 25-feet out to put the Eagles ahead for good.
“The one thing about Tucker, he’s always confident” said Coach Leist, “sometimes too confident, but in that one he was able to knock it down.”
“That last play was actually drawn up for Declan Davis” Tucker Leist told Litter Media RADIO. “Cade (Leist) was supposed to get the ball at the elbow and Declan was supposed to back cut… I think it got tipped back to me. Nobody was on me. So, I just pulled up and hit it.” Western had just 10 seconds to answer but couldn’t do so.
The game opened with a fast pace, a level that didn’t let up for 32-minutes. The Indians jumped out to a 12-4 lead, but the boys from Beaver closed the period on an 8-0 run. The two clubs played to a 24-24 tie by intermission.
Out of the break, the Eagles missed just five of 13 shots in the third quarter while Western began to struggle from the field, making just three field goals. The kept pace by sinking 8 free throws in the period and trailed 42-39 through three.
Tucker Leist, Aiden Werner and Boston Webb teamed for a 15 point 4th quarter and held on for the win to improve to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in the SOC.
The clubs were close statistically. Western had one more turnover, 18-17 and one more rebound than Eastern 29-28. The Indians made 14-of-18 free throws while the Eagles made more field goals 26-19. Western slipped to 8-5 overall and 1-3 in the SOC.
Tucker led all scorers with 20-points and Kam Janes paced the Indians with 19-points.
The teams didn’t wear their traditional school colors Tuesday. As a part of Military Appreciation Night, the Eagles and Indians wore the colors of the US Army. Western wore black uniforms with gold and white trim while Eastern wore white uni’s with gold and black trim.
The Eagles have home games with South Gallia (4-10) Friday and New Hope Christian Academy (12-2) Saturday. Meanwhile, Western hosts Oak Hill (10-6) Friday and North Adams (11-5) Saturday.
SCORING:
EASTERN (57): Tucker Leist, 20; Boston Webb, 16; Declan Davis, 12; Cade Leist, 6; Aiden Werner, 2; Dalton Southworth, 1.
WESTERN (56): Kam Janes, 19; Drew Haggy, 14; Landon Owens, 11; Alex Siliven, 7; Foster Davis, 5.
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