By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Eddren McCain notched a triple-double Wednesday night as he led Reserve Christian to victory in the opening round of the Sunkist Shootout in Lafayette on Wednesday night, 74-60 over Carencro.

McCain tallied 22 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds as he put on a show for the fans in attendance.

“Eddren was unbelievable,” said Reserve Christian Coach Timmy Byrd. “That’s the only way to really describe his performance.”

Making it even more impressive was that McCain did it under adverse conditions – he felt ill throughout the contest, and actually missed some early gametime in the third quarter because of it.

“I told Eddren that if he’s going to play like that, maybe he needs to get sick every game,” Byrd joked.

McCain wasn’t alone in his contributions. Chris Roussell added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (22-6). Cedric Jenkins notched 16 points and seven rebounds, and Matt Cali scored 14 while also adding seven rebounds.

Reserve Christian has now won eight of its last ten games.

Carencro (11-8) took an early 12 point lead, but the Eagles rallied to tie the game, 31-31, at halftime.

Reserve Christian led by six after the third quarter and outscored Carencro 43-29 in the second half.

“We were rushing everything. We settled down, and once we did we were able to tie the game and then pull away in the third quarter,” Byrd said.

Carencro provided a good test for RCS – a big, athletic team boasting two collegiate signees.

Most surprising to Byrd was the rebounding margin in the game. The smaller Eagles out-rebounded the Bears 45-28.

“We’re not a big team, so we have to really rebound by committee,” Byrd said. “I think we were able to do that.”

Last week, the Eagles took fifth place at the Country Day tournament, winning two of three games.

Last Wednesday, RCS defeated East Jefferson 68-59, in the first round.

Roussell led the way for the Eagles with 25 points. Lucas Martin added 16 and McCain scored 10.

East Jefferson (9-7) hung around for a half, trailing 33-29 at halftime after falling behind 12-0 in the first quarter. But Reserve Christian pulled away after halftime.

“We relaxed a little bit after getting out to that lead,” Byrd said. “But I thought everyone played well. We had an all-around good performance, and we were able to pull away in the second half.”

O.Perry Walker eliminated the Eagles from tournament championship contention on Thursday night, winning 62-55.

Roussell and Martin each scored 15. Jenkins added 11.

The Chargers (15-7) led by nine at halftime, but had to hold off a late Eagles surge to preserve the win. RCS drew within three with two minutes left, but the Eagles suffered three ill-timed turnovers to decide the game for good.

“We didn’t get the play we needed in the first half,” Byrd said. “A few mistakes late really hurt us.”

Reserve Christian rebounded on Friday night to defeat Jesuit, 68-64.

Jesuit (6-5) led 38-30 at halftime, but a huge third quarter run that saw the Eagles outscore the Blue Jays 26-8 ultimately sealed the game.

Roussell led the Eagles with 19 points. Jenkins scored 18 and McCain added 17.

“We did a real good job defensively in that third quarter,” said Byrd. We went from trailing by eight at halftime to being up 12 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

“We’re starting to play the kind of defense that we want to play here.”