“I thought our guys played really hard from the middle of the third quarter on, and they beat a really great team,” Eagles coach Joe Staley said. “We knew coming in that it was going to be our pressure (defense) and our perimeter guys vs. their big kids. It was one heck of a battle, but our guys just came out on top.”
FRIDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL COVERAGE
» Brunot’s bucket gives McNick stunning win over Badin
» Terri Adams’ photo gallery from Badin-McNicholas
» Ross rally comes up a point short at Little Miami
» Howard makes strong return, Hamilton routs Firebirds
Jack Nauseef and Milton Gage led CJ with 23 and 17 points, respectively. Gage suffered a gruesome cut to his brow in the third quarter, but later returned to action.
The Eagles moved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the GCLC, while the Falcons fell to 6-3, 2-2. Fenwick’s C.J. Napier led all scorers with 27 points and was forced to change jerseys during the game due to blood on his uniform.
“We battled, but we missed a lot of free throws and suffered a lot of turnovers,” Napier said. “We just can’t do that against such a good team.”
Falcons coach Pat Kreke echoed those thoughts after his team missed 11 free throws (14-of-25). CJ was 17-of-31 at the line.
“In order to beat good teams, we have to do the little things, and we didn’t do those tonight,” Kreke said.
It was a 45-45 game heading into the first overtime. The lead changed hands four times in the last four minutes of regulation.
The score was knotted at 52-52 in the second OT when junior forward Larry Turner converted a pair of shot-foul-free throw plays within 40 seconds to give the visitors a six-point lead. Fenwick could get no closer than four from there.
“How about that … being ready when he had the chance,” Staley beamed about Turner, who did not score a single point until the final three minutes of the game. “He is without a doubt the star for us in overtime.”
A.J. Braun scored nine points before fouling out for the Falcons. Travis Dahm had eight points and Jordan Rucker added seven.
Brandon Gibson and A.J. Solomon tallied nine points apiece for the Eagles.
“This was a big win for us,” said Nauseef, a senior guard. “We haven’t won here in a few years, so this is a big game for us. We had Milton (Gage) go down for us. Coach Staley told us that this game was for him. But he came back, and we were really calm about it.”
Fenwick will host Valley View on Saturday night. CJ will be at home against Beavercreek on Tuesday.
About the Author