After the first week of the boys grade 5-6 elementary league, only two teams were left undefeated. Those two teams squared off Monday night in a battle of unbeatens.The Morrison Eagles went on the road and defeated the Warren County Middle School Pioneers 33-28, avenging a loss to the Pioneers in the preseason tournament.Morrison (3-0) had added motivation for Monday’s game as a 38-23 loss to Warren County in the preseason tournament, which the Pioneers won, was still fresh in the minds of the Eagles.Ethan Smith proved to be the driving force behind the Eagles victory as coach Kyle Cannon asked his sixth-grade guard to handle a difficult Pioneer press.Smith was up to the task as he scored 18 points, most coming in the second quarter as Morrison gained a big cushion it wouldn’t relinquish.The Pioneers and Eagles went into the second quarter locked at 7-7, but Smith stole the show.Smith exploded for 14 points in the period as the Pioneers didn’t have an answer for the hot-shooting lefty.Smith sank two 3-pointers, connected on a layup and drilled all six of his free-throw attempts as Morrison went into halftime leading 26-14.Warren County began climbing back into the game by outscoring the Eagles 7-3 in the third quarter. The Pioneers got baskets from Brandon Hennessee, Crockett Walker and Isaiah Rutledge and a free throw from Gavin Myers, but Smith countered by nailing his third 3-pointer as Morrison went into the final period with a 29-21 advantage.Hennessee, Walker and Myers each added baskets in the fourth quarter for Warren County, but the Pioneers never could get closer than four as Raven Lewandowski iced the game for the Eagles with two late free throws.Smith upped his scoring average to 14.7 points per game, second in the league, with his 18-point performance against the Pioneers.Lewandowski added eight for the Eagles, followed by three from Ronaldo Martinez and two from Devin Martin and Ryland Holder.Walker led Warren County with 10 points, half coming in the first quarter.
Eagles edge Pioneers