Tuesday night brought together two of the most explosive offenses in the county for 7-8 grade basketball as the Morrison Eagles took their talent to the home of the Eastside Bulldogs.
Morrison did exactly what everyone thought they would do – the Eagles got out and ran against the Bulldogs, running away with a win, 53-34.
Irving Espinoza scored 16 points for Morrison to lead the Eagles in their win.
Morrison has a high-powered offense and most everyone in the county knows this, but what they do not account for is the relentless pressure on the ball from the Eagles. Morrison covers the floor from end-to-end and every offense they encounter is left scratching their heads. Ronaldo Martinez and Ethan Smith cover the floor very quickly and they anticipate where the ball is going next.
Eastside was able to keep pace with Morrison early, but a few key mistakes and unforced turnovers cost Eastside in the opening quarter. Logan Young for Eastside was not intimidated by the Eagle defense and he got off to a slow start but wound up scoring a game-high 19 points. Logan Young’s teammates offered little support on offense for much of the first half. Andrew Fults was the only other Bulldog to break through the tough Eagle defense.
As the half approached, Morrison had shut down any offensive threats in the second quarter the Bulldogs had tried to establish. The Bulldogs were flat-footed under the goal when the rebounds came off, easily gathered up by the Eagles. The usually high-powered offense by the Bulldogs was suddenly absent and heading into the locker room Eastside was down 25-11.
With work still left to do, Morrison came out attacking in the third. Smith drove hard to the basket, then Smith went to the line where he went 4-for-4. Devin Martin also was perfect from the line in the third quarter.
On the Bulldog side of the ball, Dillon Young who was quiet early on, finally got some points up for Eastside in the third quarter. Fults also added more points to the Bulldog total but the defense was still intense and the offense for Morrison was still going strong.
In the final quarter down 41-24 Eastside would not roll over for the Eagles and Morrison continued its assault. Smith dropped in eight points while Joel Garcia was 2-for-2 from the foul line. Eastside got more points from Logan Young and Dillon Earls, but the Eastside offense was held to just four points in the second quarter and those kinds of numbers just will not get it done against a team that plays at the level of Morrison.
At the sound of the final buzzer it was Morrison over the Bulldogs at Eastside by a score of 53-34. These two teams will meet again Feb. 2 at Morrison in the final regular-season game.
EAGLE SCORING – Irving Espinoza 16, Ethan Smith 12, Joel Garcia 8, Raven Lewandowski 8, Devin Martin 5, Ronaldo Martinez 4
BULLDOG SCORING – Logan Young 19, Andrew Fults 9, Dillon Young 3, Dillon Earls 3