with 51-43 win over Red Devils

By KEVIN PEARCEY

Sports Writer

The Louisville Red Devils hung with the No. 8 ranked Goshen Eagles for three quarters Friday night before eventually falling 51-43.

Senior forward Tony Merritt broke a 37-37 tie with a 2-point basket in the closing seconds of the third period, which gave the Eagles a lead going into the fourth that they would not relinquish.

The undersized Red Devils led by as much as seven in the first half and four at half time, 27-23.

"They (Louisville) hit some key shots that eventually put them ahead," Eagles head coach Major Lane said. "We knew we had a size advantage and we wanted to get it inside, but they kind of sagged inside and forced us to shoot the open shot and in the second half we got a few of them to fall for us."

Freshman Kendaris Pelton led the Eagles with 18 points on the night, followed by junior Jamar Tucker with 13 and senior guard Willie Darby with 11.

"Kendaris hit a couple of big shots in the middle," Lane said. "Willie did some good things for us and showed some leadership down the stretch. We turned the ball over a couple of times, but he had a short memory and came back and that’s what seniors are supposed to do."

Lane continued, "This is just the first game and the season’s not made in one game, but we’re going to take it and work a little harder each and every time we play. First game jitters, we got them out of the way; now it’s time to start playing."

The Goshen girls’ squad didn’t fare as well in their first outing. The Louisville Lady Red Devils jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back as they took home the win by the final score of 44-32.

Sparked by the play of Tyeka Jackson off of the bench, GHS put together a 6 point run in the second to pull within two of the Lady Red Devils at 11-9 midway through the quarter. But Itaya White and Marie Burks hit two 3-pointers in a row to give Louisville the 21-13 advantage at the half.

A basket by Marie Still in the third, cut the Lady Red Devils lead to just four, but then Louisville went on an 11 point tear to effectively seal the win.

Kayla Ellis lead Goshen with 10 points, followed by Eunique Williams with 8. White had 17 points for Louisville and her teammate Burks followed her with 15.