By ROBERT L. LEE

RESERVE – The Reserve Christian Eagles scored 95 points and a Class B bi-district playoff win by simply going through the motions Friday night. Although his team held a strong lead from the second quarter until the final buzzer, Eagles’ coach Tim Byrd said “They were flat, no doubt. We played with no energy, no emotion. Just went through the motions.”

Although the win set the Eagles with a 41-8 record, Byrd said his players have not been playing their usual style of basketball for approximately the past month. As an example, Byrd commented about the loss to Ellender.

“I blame that on focus. We had way too many turnovers,” he explained.

He said the primary culprit for the lack of emotion on the court comes down to the teams’ lengthy schedule of games. The double-edge sword of having 41 wins and eight losses is the cutting reality of having played almost 50 games, with playoffs only beginning. Along with the staggering tally of matches, Byrd said the Eagles are having a hard time becoming excited to face off against teams with losing records. Doyle was once such team, entering Reserve with a 13-18 record.

With the playoff game against Glenmora still on the horizon, Byrd said he hoped his players would be refocused, but added their latest practices should help speed the process.

“We had two really good practices, Saturday for about three hours and Sunday for two hours. We had a lot of scrimmages and a lot of drills with consequences,” he said. The consequences included holding a ball in each outstretched hand while sliding from side to side in a certain area. The players were given this assignment as an added incentive for their group not to lose a match during practice games. Byrd said his team was well-prepared to take on Glenmora, but through the weekend practices and some “polishing” of their shots on Monday night, they should be more energized and have more desire to win.

“I hope Tuesday all of this will be enough,” said Byrd. “But we shouldn’t have a problem getting up for the number one team versus the number three team. It will be interesting, but we like our chances.”

Against Doyle, the Eagles were neck and neck with the Tigers after the first eight minutes. The Eagles continued their pace with a short lead, until ending the second quarter with an 11-2 drive for the 40-27 lead at halftime. The Eagles only maintained their lead through the third quarter, allowing 19 Doyle points while putting up 21 points themselves. In a hint of their usual play, the Eagles rallied for a 22-4 scoring stint to finish the fourth quarter with a total 35 points, compared to the Tigers’ 15 points.