Momentum swings costly for Eagles
It was a tale of two halves in both games as Boulder City (3-5) dropped its two basketball games over the week to Del Sol and Southeast Career Technical Academy.
The Eagles headed to Del Sol on Dec. 10 to take on the Dragons in an entertaining matchup that provided back-and-forth action.
Boulder City was unable to get its offense going early, as the Eagles scored only six points in the first quarter of the contest.
Trailing by nine in the second quarter, Boulder City got a huge lift off the bench from Austin Wishard. At the 6:30 mark of quarter No. 2, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run with a Wishard bucket, followed by a Zach Murphy 3-pointer, then an and-1 conversion from Ty Montgomery to close the gap.
Wishard scored all five of his points in the quarter, grabbed two rebounds, a steal and took two charges that swung momentum in Boulder City's favor.
When asked if he enjoyed taking charges — he took six against Del Sol — Wishard said, "I don't mind. I just try to get into position and let them run into me."
Head coach John Balistere said the team record for charges in a season is 43. Through eight games, Wishard has 17.
The Eagles trailed by one at halftime, but that was the closest they'd come in the contest.
Boulder City's offense again went stagnant in the third, scoring only seven points. The Dragons reeled off 16 in the quarter, led by junior Jonathan Spearman.
The game got out of hand on the glass, as Del Sol (5-4) outrebounded Boulder City 43-28, including 16 offensive boards for a 61-51 victory.
Spearman grabbed 16 rebounds himself to go with his 17 points as the Dragons grabbed every 50-50 rebound on the night. Malique Dunn and Myles Dunn had 12 each while Bo Beagle had eight for Del Sol.
Sophomore Carson Balistere led the team in scoring for the third time in their last five games with 15, followed by Murphy with 11.
"I feel like I have a good grasp of the offense right now," Carson Balistere said. "When we execute as a team our offense can really get going."
Tuesday, the Eagles traveled to take on SECTA (1-2) in a matchup that saw Boulder City have every advantage on paper.
As the old sports-adage goes, "that's why they don't play the game on paper."
SECTA snapped a 36-game losing streak against the Eagles thanks to 32 points from P.J. Galang in a 74-57 victory over BCHS.
The game was nip-and-tuck throughout the first half, with Boulder City only trailing by three at the break.
Galang, however, got scorching hot from three in the second half, scoring 27 of his 32 en route to the Roadrunners pulling away.
The Eagles jumped into a zone defense at points throughout the game, but in the end it didn't phase the red-hot Roadrunners too much.
"We tried to give that look sometimes," coach Balistere said. "We gave them way too many shots. I think we missed like 20 free throws."
Coach Balistere said momentum changed early in the third quarter on a controversial block/charge call that didn't go in the Eagles' favor.
"We were down 15, we got within three and then (that) happened," John Balistere said. "That hurt us and it changed the game."
Murphy lead the Eagles with 19, followed by Justus Greene with 16 (10/10 from the free-throw line) and Carson Balistere with 10.
The game gave SECTA its first victory since January 2014 and its first division win since January 2013.
Boulder City travels to Sunrise Mountain — it's ninth straight road game to start the season — tonight. Game is set to tip at 6:30 p.m.
Contact reporter Randy Faehnrich at rfaehnrich@bouldercityreview or at 702-586-9401. Follow him on Twitter @RandyFaehnrich.
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Upcoming Games
Today, at Sunrise Mountain, 5 p.m., junior varsity; 6:30 p.m. varsity
