Eagles Boys Basketball Team Surges Past Jamestown In Stover Semifinals
Semifinals Shot… Eagle guard James Richard puts up a shot during the first half of Holden’s championship semifinal game against Jamestown at the Stover Tournament on Wednesday, January 5. Richard scored six points in Holden’s 68-63 come-from-behind win over Jamestown. Photo by Steve Edwards
The Holden boys basketball team overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Jamestown by the final score of 68-63 in the consolation semifinal round of the Stover Tournament on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
Balanced scoring with three Holden players hitting double digits boosted Holden to the win in which Jamestown held a 34-23 halftime lead.
“In the second half, we kind of lit a fire, and we responded a lot better,” said Holden coach Nathan Martin.
“We played a lot better in the second half.” James Richard put Holden’s final bucket of the first half in as he, Aiden Morarity, Hunter Higgins, Tyler Hankins, and Garrett Smith combined for 18 points in the second quarter.
Smith converted a free throw after being fouled on a made shot to open scoring in the second half. Back-to-back buckets by Higgins and Jarrin Brown put Holden within four points of Jamestown.
Morarity closed out the third quarter with eight straight points against a late two-point basket by Jamestown to allow Holden to head into the fourth quarter down by three points.
A basket by Smith cut Jamestown’s lead to one point with the score at 53-52.
Richard connected on two free throws to again cut Holden’s deficit to one point at 56-55. “We told them that were going to play the ones who were playing hard, and we stuck with them,” said coach Martin. “The one that kind of stuck out was James. He worked his butt off in the second half.” Brown gave Holden its first lead of the game on a steal that led to a lay-up, and a 57-56 advantage. “Jarrin played solid on defense,” said coach Martin. Brown would be fouled on a loose ball play seconds later, and would sink one of his two free throw attempts to put Holden up by two points. With the game clock ticking under the one-minute mark, junior guard Josh Taylor made a three-point shot from the right corner for a 63-59 Holden lead. “That was a big one,” said coach Martin of Taylor’s trey. “It was just a really clutch shot.” Higgins connected on a two-point basket to which Jamestown responded with a free throw, and a three-point basket.
Taylor drew a foul on a made basket in the final seconds. The junior drained his free throw for Holden’s final point of the game.
Morarity finished the game with a team-high 20 points. Smith totaled 13 points. “Garrett probably had the best game of the year for Garrett,” noted coach Smith.
Higgins scored 12 points. Taylor totaled 8 points. Brown finished with 7 points. Richard scored 6 points. Hankins pitched in 2 points.
Eagles Fall In Consolation Game Holden’s semifinal win over Jamestown put the Eagles in the consolation game of the Stover Tournament where the Eagles fell to the host team Stover Bulldogs by the final score of 73-64. “We played good for most of the game,” said Holden coach Nathan Martin. “We were up by nine after the first quarter. and were losing by four at halftime. In the third quarter, we got down by as many as 16, and then made a comeback. We had too many turnovers, and we were awful from the free throw line.”
Aiden Morarity led Holden in scoring with 23 points. Hunter Higgins scored 12 points. Garrett Smith scored 10 points. Jarrin Brown contributed 8 points. James Richard scored 4 points. Travis Bruns scored 3 points. With 2 points each were Josh Taylor and Reco Jenkins.
