Eagles already on the road again, headed to Oregon for the Les Schwab Nike Invite

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

In Palm City, Florida last week, Reserve Christian went into the City of Palms Classic tournament ranked ninth, and dropped their first game to Riverview. But the Eagles rebounded after that loss, to take the next three over Piney Woods, Lake Wales and Nacogdoches to top the consolation bracket for a fourth place finish.

Reserve Christian played in the opening game December 16, where Riverview, got by the Eagles with a 81-77 final. In this game, Reserve Christian led much of the way, but struggled to keep up with the Sarasota, Florida team’s 31 point offensive output in the fourth quarter.

Tony Davis, of Riverview, led all scorers with 37 while Reserve Christian’s Demond &#8220Tweetie” Carter got 28. Kevin Branch and Tino Brozos also contributed double-digits in scoring for the Eagles with 14 and 13 respectively.

The loss put Reserve Christian into the consolation brackets for a possible fourth place finish. That pitted them first up against Piney Woods from Mississippi. Here, the Eagles jumped out in front, to go into halftime with a ten-point lead. Piney Woods chipped away at that, gaining four points on Reserve Christian in the third, and three more in the final period, which put them three short in the end with a 58-55 final score. Carter led all scorers with 27 and Brozos posted 13.

That advanced the Eagles to take on Lake Wales where they hit their stride, racking up a 12 point lead by the break, and suppressing the Florida team’s attempted comeback for a 77-67 final.

Carter was responsible for more than half of the Eagles scoring output for this game, with 41 points including seven three-pointers and 14-of-14 free throws.

With that win, the Eagles advanced to the consolation finals against Nacogdoches High School of Texas. Here, they made an early statement, holding Nacogdoches to a total of three points in all of the first quarter. By halftime, Reserve Christian increased that lead to go into the break 30-12. They never did let up, outscoring their opponents by 15 more points in the second half, to take a convincing 73-40 win and fourth place overall in the tournament.

Once again, Carter dominated in the statistical categories, getting 32 points, five assists and five steals. Kevin &#8220Bo” Branch posted the second-highest offensive output for the game with 15.

Reserve Christian’s squad took an abbreviated breather after the four-game series, getting right back into tough competition in the Les Schwab Nike Invitational in Portland, Oregon this week. That tournament, which is scheduled to wrap up Friday, pits the Eagles up against Evergreen High, from Washington.