Lady Eagles out run Tigers in win
Published 3:00 am Wednesday, January 25, 2017
The Goshen Lady Eagles took another step towards an area championship on Tuesday when they defeated Luverne on the road 56-40.
The win gives the Eagles a 4-0 area record.
It wasn’t all pretty for the Eagles on Tuesday night, but playing in Luverne is never easy, said head coach Fred Lowery.
“We looked pretty good tonight,” Lowery said. “We started off slow, but we ended up looking pretty good. We won the game and it gave me an opportunity to play all the girls.”
The Eagles have been able to put pressure on their opponents, which led to easy transition baskets on the other end. Once again on Tuesday, the Eagles had no answer.
“We ran them to death and they were fatigued,” Lowery said. “We played good defense in the second and third quarters. We were able to get some fast break points. Our transition game tonight was extremely good.”
The Eagles struggled early and scored just nine first quarter points and went into the second trailing 12-9.
The second quarter began and so did the Eagles offense. Shamiya Griffin scored eight of her team’s 16 second quarter points and the Eagles entered halftime holding a 25-18 lead after the Tigers only scored six points in the quarter.
“Shamiya played well for us on the inside tonight,” Lowery said.
Shamiya continued her strong play, scoring 12 second half points and long with sister Bree who scored 15 second half points the Eagles were able to run away with the easy win.
Bree Griffin led the Eagles with 24 points on the night, while Shamiya tallied 20.
“It was same old, same old,” Lowery said. “Shamiya took over the game and they couldn’t stop her in the paint. She was on tonight. Bree just did what she does. She is a driver and she makes her own shot.”
Lowery and the Eagles hope the win on the road will help propel them as they look to close out area play against Calhoun and Central.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Lowery said. “Luverne is a good basketball team. We beat them at their home and that is a big confidence booster. We have Calhoun at home. Our goal is to win the area and host the area tournament so this is huge for us. We just have to ride this momentum and keep getting better.”
The Lady Eagles will host Calhoun on Thursday night beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The boys also picked up an area win over the Tigers on Tuesday night when they defeated Luverne 59-36.
Eric Williams led the Eagles with 15 points on the night, while Michael Hollis scored 13 and Zack Alford scored nine. the Eagles will be back in action on Thursday against Calhoun beginning at 7 p.m.