01-04-08
BY JACK BULLOCK

But the unbeaten 15-0 club played just well enough to overcome an obvious post-Holiday Tournament lullaby with a 61-53 defensive minded and workman-like victory to move to 4-0 in the Black Diamond Conference – East Division.

Four players made enough shots to get to double figures for the Eagles as the hosts outrebounded visitors 33-21 on the night and put together enough runs to salvage a hard earned win.

Jordan Williams topped the Eagles with 18 points and individually was a difference on the defensive boards.

Six-foot-four sophomore forward Cody Lane got a lot of the dirty work done – picking up five of the team's 11 offensive rebounds turning two of them into immediate points. Lane finished with 16 points on the night.

Isaiah Cunningham had a poor shooting night from the field but hit all five of his shots from the foul line. He added a single field goal and a 3-pointer to add up to 10 points.

Alex Parker had perhaps the toughest job of the night – trying to guard Carmi's top gun Travis Jones while still adding some offense. Five field goals added up to 10 points on the evening.

Although Jones delivered 24 points to lead all scorers – just four of those points came in the final period as Eldorado finally put the victory in the books.

Even with an off night by Eldorado's Dallas Robinson (a deserving MVP of the recent Eldorado Holiday Tournament) the teams' point guard who was held to two points (a pair of important free throws in the final quarter) Coach Greg Goodley's club is no more worse for wear standing unbeaten in fifteen contests.

“Carmi has a good ballclub and they have guys that are seasoned veterans that play well together,” said Coach Goodley – whose team is undefeated this late in the basketball campaign for the first time since the 1975-76 season. “We knew they would come in here – with it being a conference game – ready to play. We weren't ready as we would have liked to have been tonight. We didn't pass and catch the ball as efficient as we have in the past. We were however able to defend and rebound well enough to keep it close and it allowed us to make a run at the end to get the win.”

Having the target in its collective back – Eldorado can look forward to more teams coming in ready to play this season.

Carmi got the 24 key points from Jones to go with 11 points from Luke Pyle.

But with fouls adding up to some key players spending time in the second half on the CWC bench – Coach Newell saw his club lose its third game in four contests since starting the season 8-1.

“We had some times when we were up in the first half but we made some turnovers and missed some shots – didn't get good offensive trips,” said Carmi head coach Jarrod Newell – whose club is now 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the BDC-E. “Defensively we played pretty well but offensively we kind of shot ourselves in the foot too many times.”

Eldorado started out well with Williams scoring twice in the opening minutes to give Eldorado a quick 6-2 lead. In fact Williams scored eight of his 18 in the opening period.

Jones began firing away in the opening quarter as well hitting a 3-pointer from the right wing for his first points to cut the Eldorado lead to 6-5 with 5:34 left.

Carmi trailed just 15-13 at the first buzzer as both teams struggled offensively with four turnovers each.

An 8-0 run near the beginning of the second quarter by CWC gave the home crowd some anxious moments.

A pair of 3-pointers by Jones and Clay Kittinger sandwiched around a fast break lay in by Erik Rice forced an Eldorado timeout at 21-17 Carmi at the 4:11 mark.

The Eagles regrouped and outscored the Bulldogs 9-3 the remainder of the half.

Parker took advantage of being left open on the left wing and buried a mid-range shot to start the run.

Williams scored on a pass from Parker and later hit a pair of free throws.

Brandon Harner – a 5-foot-11 reserve senior guard – nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to close the half at 26-24 Eagles.

Jones scored just seconds into the third quarter to even the score at 26 but then came one of the turning points of the contest.

CWC – with Eldorado suddenly cold from the field – failed to make a serious offensive move.

The Eagles missed their first five shots in the quarter but Coach Newell's club didn't capitalize.

By the time that Pyle hit a pair of free throws to even the game for the final time – Eldorado had gotten its offensive legs back.

Coach Goodley's club quickly went on an 11-2 scoring jaunt to force a CWC timeout at 3:12.

Four different Eagles (Lane, Williams, Cunningham and Parker) scored in the run.

Cunningham hit a shot in the lane while being fouled by Travis Williams. His conventional three-point play resulted in a 37-30 lead.

Williams added a bucket on a pass from Cunningham to finish the run as the Bulldogs needed to talk it over at 39-30.

Jones got the Dawgs back close once again scoring five consecutive points on open looks at the basket. His 3-pointer from the top of the arc on an inbounds pass whittled the Eldorado lead to just 39-35.

The Eagles biggest lead of the night happened when Cunningham saw his only 3-pointer of the night fall through the nets at the 1:28 mark to make it 44-35.

CWC got close two more times in the contest but Eldorado responded with a run each time.

Following Jones' rebound basket with 6:38 left – Carmi trailed just 48-44.

But a 6-0 run with two more buckets by Williams pushed the Eldorado lead back out to 54-44.

Carmi's final salvo was a 7-0 sprint. Five of the points came from the free throw line the Eldorado lead was in jeopardy at 54-51.

But as they have done many other times during this undefeated season – the Eagles put away their foes from the foul line.

Eldorado hit 7-of-10 charity shots in the final 1:25 to keep the loss column empty.

“I think our kids did a good job executing on the defensive end of the floor tonight by forcing them into some shots,” added Coach Newell. “But they are so big and physical and they got so many second chance points and that was the difference.”

Eldorado was 19-of-49 from the field in the contest and committed 17 turnovers. However none of that will matter when the sun comes up Saturday morning and the team is still without a loss.

“We didn't get a good game out of Isaiah (Cunningham) tonight but we got a great effort from Jordan (Williams) and Alex Parker played a great defensive game tonight,” added Coach Goodley. “That is how a team has to evolve if they are going to keep winning.”

Carmi-White County was 19-of-52 on the night with just 5-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc.

Jones hit four of those 3-pointers to finish with 24.

Both teams head back into action Saturday night as Eldorado travels to Gallatin County for a date with the Hawks that was postponed from December 21 while CWC gets back on the bus for a long trip to Cairo.

“We were worried about how the team was going to come out and play after having won our tournament,” finalized Coach Goodley. “We needed some time off after the tournament and we kind of started over tonight. We didn't play that well but we still managed to win.”

Carmi-White County (53) - Kittinger 1 1 0-0 5, Williams 2 0 2-2 6, Pyle 3 0 5-6 11, Jones 5 4 5-6 24, Rice 3 0 1-2 7, Steed 0 0 0-0 0, Matheny 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-10-13, PF-22.
Eldorado (61) - Robinson 0 0 2-2 2, Lane 3 1 7-10 16, Cunnigham 1 1 5-5 10, Parker 5 0 0-0 10, Williams 7 0 4-9 18, Harner 0 1 2-2 5.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-20-28, PF-10.
Fouled Out - Pyle, Williams - Carmi-White County.
Technical Fouls - None.