By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

Coming off of a bi-district win at Sicily Island, Reserve Christian basketball fans probably felt a bit of deja vu Friday night as the Eagles played host to Pelican in the Class B quarter-finals round for the second consecutive year.

Last season, RCS took a 96-56 win on their way to their third state championship in five years. This year’s match with Pelican, which was scheduled for Friday, but will be covered in Wednesday’s edition of L’Observateur due to publication deadlines, marked the Eagles 48th game this season as they have totaled 29 wins.

Against Sicily last Tuesday, Reserve Christian got off to a slow start as the visiting team, but rebounded with a big second quarter and a dose of defense in the closing minutes.

Sicily’s Tigers opened up a seven point lead on the Eagles in the opening eight minutes of play before RCS got on their feet. They picked it up in the second with a defense that allowed just nine points in the quarter while posting 20 for themselves. That brought it into the break with the Eagles ahead 33-30.

Both teams came out strong on defense for the third quarter as the

squads matched baskets to push it into the final quarter still separated by just three points. From there, the RCS defense buckled down again, holding Sicily to nine points to secure their lead and the 59-49 final.

Eddren McCain led the effort with 21 points while Cedric Jenkins got 16. Demond Peters added nine.