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The boys travelled to Laporte on Tuesday, February 3 to face the Wildcats in one of their three scheduled games for the week. Ice cold shooting and a lack of intensity which had been present in their previous couple of games, was a difference maker in the game, as the Eagles would go down in defeat 72-56.

A slow start to the game for both squads had the Eagles only down 13-10 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half. The next five minutes belonged to the Wildcats as they used a 19-4 run to pull out to a 32-14 lead with just over two minutes to go. The Eagles controlled the rest of the half as they went on a 12-4 run of their own, to close to within ten at the intermission 36-26, and looked to have momentum on their side.

The second half went much the same way a good portion of the first half did. The Wildcats slowly pushed the lead out to 54-36 with 10:21 to go and the Eagles cold shooting would not allow them to get a push and cut into the lead any further.

Eagles- 26 30 56

LaPorte- 36 36 72

Scoring- M Johnson-6, Z Greene-9, J Wicks- 24, F Smith- 2, B Swankier-2, C Kovall-8, J Stefan-5



Thursday had the Bigfork Huskies in town for a rematch of an earlier loss for the Eagles. This one turned out to be a very close, hard fought game, with neither getting a lead of more than nine throughout.

The Huskies jumped out to a 9-4 lead before the Eagles would storm back and run off 18 of the next 24 points for a 22-15 lead with four minutes to go before half. The Huskies would then hit some 3-pointers as they closed the half out strong outscoring the Eagles over the remainder of the half 14-5, to take a slim 29-27 lead into the half.

The Eagles would score five quick points to start the second half to forge ahead 32-29, but then the Huskies rattled off twelve straight to take their biggest lead of the night at 41-32, with 11:00 to go. The Eagles regrouped and went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to forge ahead 43-42 with just over 6:00 left. Trading the next two baskets had the Eagles take the lead at 45-44 with 5:22 left and on this night, a lead they would never relinquish as they hung on to a three point lead 51-48 with 1:25 left and hit some free throws to close out the 57-52 win.

A change in venue, better shooting, more energy, and as Coaches Carlson and Torgerson commented, "A little pep talk for all players before the game", had the Eagles feeling better about their performance after the game. A balanced attack offensively, placed three players in double figures (Wicks, Greene, Kovall) while a fourth had 9 (Woods). Defensively, a more aggressive approach saw the Eagles turnover the Huskies on numerous occasions. It was a well-deserved win for all players, coaches and fans.

Eagles- 27 30 57

Bigfork- 29 23 52

Scoring- M Johnson-2, M Woods-9, Z Greene-13, Z Meyers-2, B Swankier-2, J Wicks-16, C Kovall-13

Saturday had the Eagles travelling to Target Center to play the Nevis Tigers. Home games on Tuesday, February 10 vs LaPorte and Friday, February 13 vs. Nashwauk-Keewatin are up next for the boys, followed by Parents Night on Monday February 16 against MacGregor.

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