Eads Boys Bring Home Championship for Second Straight Year
January 10, 2003
It was standing room only at the 39th annual Lamar Holiday Basketball Tournament championship round when the Eads Eagles nailed 11 three-balls to successfully defend their tournament crown with a 62-48 win over a good McClave team who showed intense transition capabilities throughout the tournament.
Eads would get to the final round of the tournament by beating a six-man Pritchett squad, 74-32 in the first round on Thursday night, and then controlled a much-improved Holly team in the semifinals, 64-44. The win set up the collision between two very fast teams.
It would be the 11 three-balls from Eads’ outside trio, the three Gilmore brothers, who combined for 46 points that would diminish McClave’s hopes of a tournament championship in a great number of years.
At the outset Eads and McClave looked to match up evenly; both teams are very fast, fairly young, and very athletic. However, the combination of the Gilmore brothers and the rebounding hustle of senior posts Ryan Trosper and Casey Gibbs was too much for the upstart Cardinals.
Trosper’s work ethic was text book with every spectator in the house appreciating the ever-present extra effort he displayed. It was that tenacious extra effort that opened up the perimeter for the Gilmores who began to light it up in the second quarter.
Eads would lead the Cardinals, 10-6, after a first quarter that saw nervous shooting by both sides. However, middle brother, Steven Gilmore, would get the show going midway through the second when he would hit three of his four three-balls to ignite Eads’ offense into a 22-point effort.
At half time, Eads was threatening to break it open, 32-19. Going into the third quarter McClave’s speed and outside shooters tried to keep pace with Eads, staying within four points, but the inside-outside game Eads displayed would not go away. As the Cardinals stayed in their zone, worried about Trosper’s threat inside, the elder Gilmore, Keyvis, found open area on the left arc and hit a three-ball at the very end of the third bringing Eads to a 51-24 lead. And Keyvis wasn’t finished as he continued to scorch the cords from that left arc hitting three more treys and a deuce early in the fourth before McClave’s guards could find him.
Steven would then add his final three-ball and then little brother Marcus put the frosting on the cake with one of his two. By then it was all over, and Coach Shawn Randel cleared the Eads bench. McClave’s starters continued to press to the very end, but the Eagle bench played solid and controlled the ball to the buzzer.
Steven Gilmore would lead the Eagle’s scoring with 20 points followed by brother Keyvis with 18 counters. Trosper and Gibbs controlled the inside with 14 and eight points respectively, and young Marcus Gilmore did an admirable job running the ball on the transition and added eight more points for Eads.
The championship trophy was the second one in as many years the Eads boys have earned despite losing a core of starters from last year’s team. It’s a different team this year as Eads has substituted size for quickness and has hardly skipped a beat towards their ultimate goal of getting to the state tournament once again, this time in the 1A division. Going into the break Eads sports a perfect 6-0 record and has gained some attention in the polls.