Demond Carter and Kevin Branch impressive against national talent

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

Reserve Christian is showing up some of the best talent in the country.

In the past three weeks, the Eagles defending Class B state champion basketball team has been impressive with a seven game winning streak against nationally-ranked competition in the City of Palms Classic in Florida and the Les Schwab Nike Invitational in Oregon. They capped their road swing with a championship tournament over Westchester, of Los Angeles, in the Oregon tournament after topping Rice, of New York, in the previous round with a second half rally. Westchester, ranked 19 nationally by USA Today, went in as the number three seed for the tournament, but were dropped by the Eagles, who were a late addition to the tournament after stepping in to replace Brother Martin who had to pull out due to the school’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Early on in the game, the Eagles went on top, going into halftime with a seven point lead. Westchester staged a 14 point run in the third quarter to take a three point lead, but Demond &#8220Tweetie” Carter retook the lead for Reserve Christian with a three pointer with just more than two minutes remaining and the Eagles held on for the 66-60 win.

Against Rice, who was also received a national ranking in the top 25 by the same USA Today poll, Kevin Branch came up big, scoring 29 points as Rice concentrated on shutting down Carter, who scored 129 points in the four game tournament series. The Eagles turned it up a notch in the third quarter, outscoring Rice 22-10 and holding on for a 66-64 final score.

The Oregon tournament opened where the Eagles beat up on Evergreen 88-58. The second round pitted Reserve Christian against Southern Medford where they won one a little tighter at 73-67.

This is obviously one of the country’s best tournaments,” Reserve Christian coach Tim Byrd said after the final game in Oregon. &#8220We beat South Medford, Rice and Westchester in this tournament, so that’s a big deal for us.”

In the City of Palms Classic, the Eagles started their streak after dropping the first game of the brackets to Riverview in an 81-77 final. They went on to win the consolation bracket over Piney Woods, Lake Wales and Nacogdoches for a fourth place finish.

Now with a 26-4 record, the Eagles are primed for some more in-state play. Heading into this week, they were scheduled to play Helen Cox at Reserve Christian before traveling to Baton Rouge to face Southern Lab. Their next home game is set for Tuesday next week when they take on 5A Rummel at 7 p.m.