By GEORGE MAHL Sports Editor

RESERVE – In the past, Reserve Christian and West St. John have played games that have been extremely competitive. However, that was not exactly the case this past Tuesday night at “The Nest”. Thanks to balanced scoring, the Eagles were able to pull away from the Rams in the first half to notch an 87-63 non-district victory.

“I thought we beat them dramatically on the boards tonight,” said Reserve Christian Boys Basketball Coach Timmy Byrd. “We beat a very good team out there.”

George Brozos led the Eagles with 16 points, Marlon Brumfield added 15 points and Demond Carter finished with 14 points. Brumfield, along with Alex Mzorik, got several rebounds for the Eagles.

“I was really pleased with Penny’s (Marlon Brumfield’s) rebounding this evening,” said Byrd.

Each teams went on 6-0 run’s during the first quarter. Two consecutive 3-pointers by Reserve Christian gave the Eagles a quick 6-0 lead with less than two minutes gone by in the first quarter.

However, the Rams responded quickly with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the game 6-6.

The RCS defense stepped up after the run and did not allow a point for almost three minutes. During the three minutes, the defending Class B state champions outscored the Rams 12-2. With 2:51 to play in the first quarter the Eagles held an 18-8 lead.

West St. John, however, would not go quietly, as they scored six points in a row to cut the lead to four points, 18-14. After two fouls shots by Wojek Bocianowski to make the score 20-14, West St. John guard Juan Joseph drilled a three-point shot to cut the Eagles lead to 20-17 with 35 seconds left.

In the second quarter, the Eagles outscored the Rams 20-7 to give them a 41-24 lead at halftime.

The closest the Rams could manage in the third quarter was closing the gap to 52-43 with 1:36 remaining. Leading 55-45, Reserve Christian scored the final six points of the third quarter to give them a 61-45 lead entering the fourth period.

WSJ guard Josh Lumar led all scorers with 18 points, while Neil Songy chipped it with 13 points and Quinn Johnson added 11 points.

The Eagles are currently in Dayton, Ohio to play in the “Flyin’ To The Hoop” Tournament. Their first opponent is a team from Montreal, Canada.