Eagles fall short

ST. JOHN — The St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles boys basketball team lost their undefeated start to the season, currently sitting at .500 on the season after two defeats.

The Eagles will head into Christmas break with a 2-2 record.

The Eagles started the week with a loss to the Garfield-Palouse Vikings, then lost to the Wilbur-Creston-Keller Wildcats.

The game against the Vikings was played on Friday, Dec. 15, and was played in LaCrosse.

The Eagles would fall behind in the match as they were out-shot by the Vikings offense. The Eagles fell to the Vikings 54-36, giving St. John their first loss of the season.

The bright spot in the game for the Eagles was the play of Birch Brown. He finished the day with 19 points to led the Eagles. Matthew DeFord and Landen Miller both had five in the game for the Eagles.

Following the Vikings defeat, the Eagles had a chance to even their record in week three with a game on Saturday, Dec. 16, against the Wilbur-Creston-Keller Wildcats. The game was played in Wilbur.

The Eagles fell behind by nine after the first quarter, and could never string together key possessions, leading to the 68-45 loss to the Wildcats.

During the first quarter the Eagles scored 11 points but gave up 20. Alex Roca had three points in the quarter for the Eagles. Bear Brewer also had three points.

The second quarter saw the Wildcats again score 20 points, this time only allowing St. John to put up eight points. The Eagles would trail 40-19 heading into the second half.

The Eagles came out of the halftime locker room and produced their highest scoring quarter of the game. They would score 17 points, but allow 20 once again to trail by 24 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats cooled down in the fourth quarter, scoring just eight points to bring their total to 68. The Eagles, however, would score just nine, falling by 23.

DeFord led the scoring for the Eagles with 13 points. He scored seven of his thirteen points in the third quarter.

Brewer would finish the game with 10 points, and Miller added nine points to his season total.

The next game for the Eagles will be played on Friday, Jan. 5. The Eagles will take on the Oakesdale Nighthawks, with the game taking place in St. John. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.