MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 19, 2000

RESERVE – What a difference a year has made for the Reserve Christian Eagles.

A year ago, they were the hunter, surprising many with a district title and a run to the Top 28 tournament in their first season in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.

Now as the 1999-2000 regular season comes to a close, the Eagles have become the hunted.

Reserve Christian currently stands 34-7 and is ranked third in Class B. TheEagles clinched their second consecutive District 12-B title last Friday with an 84-70 victory at Phoenix. But it’s been a tough road to get to this point.”We’ve played tight the last month,” Reserve Christian coach Timmy Byrd said. “We’ve played hard but our offensive game has not been what I wouldhave liked it to have been. Everybody has been gunning for us. Everybody isthrowing their best at you and we have not had a break. I thought the kidshandled it well given all the circumstances.”Reserve Christian had to defeat Phoenix or face a three-way playoff for the district title after losing at Mt. Hermon the previous Tuesday. The Eaglesaccomplished the goal by providing relentless defensive pressure against the Spartans and winning the battle on the boards and for loose balls. The teams’two captains, Addison Ellis and Aaron Vogel, led the scoring output with 22 and 17 points, respectively.

Reserve Christian is coming off a 91-70 non-district victory at St. CharlesCatholic Tuesday night. Vogel led the team with 25 points while Eric McClain,who has bounced back from three ankle sprains this season, contributed 23 points and nine rebounds.

“The kids played hard and had fun,” Byrd said.

Reserve Christian closes out the regular season today at a tournament at Lacassine where the top seven teams from Class B will play teams from higher classifications. The Eagles will play Kinder, the fifth-ranked team inClass A.

“Hopefully, it will be a good tune-up for us,” Byrd said. “We know it’s going tobe a good challenge.”Then it’s time for the state playoffs to begin with Reserve Christian opening at home against a wild card team next week. Byrd said he can see a change inhis team at this point from last year when it went into the postseason with a tentative attitude.

“Their more mature, more confident,” Byrd said. “Last year, they questiontheir ability a little bit. This year, I feel like their confidence level is onewhere they expect to win. They have an attitude they can beat anybody.”One advantage the team has over last year is experience. Byrd said whenthey first stepped into the Cajun Dome for the semifinal game against Gibsland-Coleman, they had a sense of awe. It was also the first time theyhad played on a 95-foot floor. This year, they already have played a couple ofgames at that length.

But Byrd does not want to look that far ahead. There is the matter of thethree games up to that point, starting with next week’s game.

“In the playoffs, you can’t take anybody lightly,” Byrd said. “You have to playwith a sense of urgency and I think the kids are mature enough to know that.

They know it’s playoff time and they are anxious to get into the playoffs because now every game means something.”But for a team that has already gone through a rigorous schedule, one that includes victories over higher classification teams, Byrd knows he does not have to change much.

“We are going to keep doing what we do best and worry about the things we can control,” Byrd said. “We’re going to go out there and play, have fun andlet the chips fall where they may.”

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