No. 2 Eads Loses to No. 4 Cheraw in District 2 Championship
March 7, 2003
Depending on which team shows up on the court on a given night, the Eads Eagles are without a doubt one of the finest teams in 1A this year. Their fast-paced run-and-gun offense and pressure defense can cause anyone trouble. Eagle fans saw both teams at the District 2 tournament in Lamar over the weekend as the top-seeded Eagles qualified for the Regional tournament with an explosive 84-58 win over McClave, one of the few teams that had gotten the upper-hand on Eads; but fell short on dismal defensive effort down the stretch losing to Cheraw, 57-47, in the championship contest. Eads will now have to dig in the heels and try to beat the best team out of District 4, the Kim Mustangs, in order to get to the Big Show in mid-March.
An extremely hot Gilmore trio entered the building on Thursday night as the three guards led Eads from the outside, hitting for nine long-balls, and then found big-man Ryan Trosper inside to control a very good McClave team in the semis. It was all-but-over after one when Eads produced 27 points to the Cardinal’s 9 behind three long balls and eight buckets from the Eagle guards. Their shooting percentage was phenomenal as over 60% of their field goals fell in the first half. The senior Gilmore, Keyvis, would have one of his best games of the season as he would hit for 23 points and was everywhere knocking down the shots. McClave was never in this one as Eads put the icing on the cake in the third scoring 27, double the Cardinal production. Keyvis Gilmore would lead all players with23 points, followed by Steven Gilmore with 18, and Marcus Gilmore with 17. Trosper was as ever the difference as he scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for another double-double.
It was a different story on Saturday night when Cheraw came ready to play. The Wolverines had suffered a conference loss to Eads by ten points midway through the season, but looked as if they are now on a mission toward State as their senior twin guard duo, Jacob and Andrew Froese, did everything for the Wolverines finding three point land twice and their big men numerable times for lay ups. The tempo of the game was evident from the tip off as Eads came to the game flat and never, ever really got going. By the first quarter they were in a huge hole 24-12. Eads would slowly come back going into the second quarter when a rare long-ball by post Casey Gibbs and another from Keyvis Gilmore fanned a little life into the struggling Eagles. The defense would step it up and hold Cheraw to a mere three points in the second and Eads would leave the court at intermission trailing, 27-24. But the third was big for Cheraw as Eads went stone cold from the outside and couldn’t find a hot Trosper inside enough to keep Eads close. Although Eads was in it until midway through the last quarter, their defense did not step to the plate and allowed Cheraw five lay ups on the time-tested "give-and-go." The Froese brothers were stellar while they stalled out the ball and got their third-state District crown in as many years.
Eads will now face the biggest game of the season on Saturday at 3:30 PM at the La Junta High School gymnasium as they face a very good Kim team who comes into the tournament with a (18-3) record and the top seed from District 4.