Eads Eagles State Bound Once Again!
March 14, 2003
When the Eads Eagles left La Junta on Saturday night there was no doubt left in anyone’s mind that they, both the boys and girls, were teams you don’t want to mess around with as they both pulverized their regional opponents and walked into the Big Show for the second straight year in a row. The Eads girls (21-2), coming off a very satisfying district championship over previously No. 1 ranked and undefeated McClave, controlled a hapless Pritchett team, 75-24, while the Eads boys (18-3), runner-ups in the toughest district in the state, put on exclamation mark on a highly-touted Kim team, 85-28, leaving no question marks in the process.
The Lady Eagles will make their second straight state appearance this weekend in Pueblo. Last year they were mere inches from playing for the state championship when they almost pulled off a huge upset over the eventual 2A state champions, Limon, who return to defend their title this year. The girls are hungry and will enter the 1A tournament in the top slot with nemesis McClave on the opposite side of the bracket sitting in the two-hole. Eads will take on a good Idalia (18-5) team, who upset Flagler in overtime, in the nightcap on Thursday night at 8:30 PM in USC’s Massari Gym.
To get there the Lady Eagles pulled out all the stops as their full-courttrap defense demoralized the Pritchett Pirate guards. In fact, for thefirst three minutes of the game the Pirates never got the ball to their side of the court. Eads would explode for 22 points in the first stanza behind unbelievable shooting by senior guard Treva Richardson who would hit two of her five long-balls on the night. Post Jessica Watts made her presence known all night as some tough work inside and lay ups off of Eagle steals meant money for the 5’10 junior. The ladies continued to work hard into the second but began to be hampered by sudden ice-cold shooting where many lay ups and close jumpers would ring around and out.
However, by the third, Eads left no doubt as to their superiority when a 35-point route ended any hope for the Pirates. The final stanza saw the young Eagles take the floor and play two up on the Pirates. Richardson had yet another outstanding night hitting for 26 points while Watts added 20 and Darci Weeks nailed ten. In total, ten girls got in the box score for Eads.
Kim boys entered the regional tournament with an excellent record of 18-2 and managed to catch up to Eads after, like the girls, a huge first quarter of 23 points dwindled to a mere four in the second when the lid fell down for Eads. Kim never really produced much offense against the tough Eagle man defense, however, by half time they were knocking on the door, faintly, trailing 27-16. But the very dangerous shooters from Eads came back from halftime and there was no questions as to "who got next" as Eads scored 36 points and held the Mustangs to four. It was nearly an exact replay for Eagle fans as the bench was cleared for Eads into the fourth where Eads continued to produce 22 points. It was a combination of the inside-outside game for Eads and outstanding hustle on the defensive end that allowed them to slam yet another door behind them and continue on down the road to greatness.
The phenomenal quickness and shooting abilities of the Gilmore trio was present and accounted for as the elder Gilmore, Keyvis, would hit four long-balls on his way to a 21-point production, while younger brothers Steven and Marcus hit two and three behind-the-arc shots scoring 17 points apiece. And, never to be counted out is the senior who leads the way for Eads in his work ethic and presence on the court. Ryan Trosper helped to initiate the third quarter blood-bath with three huge steals early. He would have his "umpteenth" double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
The men from Eads enter the state tournament for the fourth time in five years and will play in the 1A classification this year. They come in seeded No. 2 behind Cheraw’s strong finish at the end of the season that earned them the top-seed. Eads has Deer Trail (11-11) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday with game time slated at 4:00 PM in USC’s Massari Gym.