12-10-04
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - For the Eldorado Eagles, getting off to a good start was one of the priorities in its Friday night contest against conference rival Fairfield.

After losing at Hamilton County Tuesday night by shooting a paltry 14-of-49 from the field, Eldorado was eager to make amends.

Jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the first few minutes, coach Greg Goodley's club got off to a 'great' start instead and survived a couple of big Fairfield scoring bursts in the second half to post a 73-66 win at Duff Kingston Gym.

The Eagles evened their conference mark at 1-1 and stand 4-3 overall, thanks to balanced scoring provided by four Eldorado double-figure marksmen.

Craig Parks led Goodley's club with 19 points, and added four big assists in the fourth quarter to help polish off the Mules.

Jeremy Carmickle (16) Cobretta Creamer (12) and Austin Bradley, (10) along with Parks, were the main offensive standouts for the Eagles on a night where they did just enough to hold off Fairfield. (3-3, 1-1 BDC)

"It was nice to get all of the open looks that we got early in the game. I know we are not going to make all of those shots but to come out and shoot the ball with confidence early kind of knocked them (the Mules) on their heels," said Goodley.
"Tonight the kids stepped up and did a better job offensively and you know when you score you are tough to beat and tonight it was nice to see us play so well."

During that first quarter scoring outburst, Eldorado basically took the Mules 'to the shed' by hitting their first six shots.

Carmickle scored just seconds into the game on a lay up off of a 'tip play' from the opening tap and his subsequent 3-pointer from the right wing staked the Eagles to a quick 5-0 lead just 1:10 into the game.

When Parks hit his first shot from the field, a 15-footer from the left elbow, coach Tim Pearison of Fairfield had seen enough and burned his first timeout at 6:21 to go in the frame with the score 7-0 Eldorado.

A 3-pointer from Bradley and another mid-range jumper on the next two Eldorado trips force another Fairfield stoppage of play with 5:11 left and the score reading 12-0 Eldorado.

The Mules finally 'lit' the Duff-Kingston Gym scoreboard when Ross Basnett scored in the lane at the 4:27 mark that started a brief 6-0 Mules stampede.

Todd West, Fairfield's top backcourt player, got into the scoring act to finish the run with a pull up jumper to close the deficit at 12-6.

But another 3-pointer by Bradley and a score in the lane from Carmickle closed out the quarter strong for the Eagles, who led 19-10 at the first horn.

Eldorado held on to its scoring cushion for the rest of the game, although Fairfield managed to claw back into the contest to make the Eagles earn their wings on a couple of different occasions.

West was the key component for the Mules in the second stanza, scoring nine points including seven straight points during one stretch to keep the game within reach.

But coach Goodley got some offense from his youngsters on this night with Creamer adding some long distance damage to the arsenal.

This sophomore canned a pair of 3-point bombs in the quarter, including a 'bell-ringer' from the right wing to deflate the Fairfield bubble while sending both teams to the locker room at 38-25 Eagles.

"We really have five guards out there that can all shoot the ball," added Goodley. "And tonight we shot the ball well for the first time in a game situation. I have seen these kids do it in practice and during the summer, but tonight they did it when it really counted."

The third quarter the Eagles showed 'some impatience' according to Goodley, which on most nights would have spelled doom to a team trying to hold onto a lead. But Fairfield failed to capitalize in a quarter that turned into the Craig Parks showcase.

This 6-foot-4 junior scored 11 of his 19 points in this eight-minute epoch from all angles.

He scored six of his points on drives to the basket and his wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the arc on an inbounds play gave the Eagles a commanding 45-31 lead with 3:29 left in the quarter.

The Mules made another move to get back into the game at this point, going on a 9-2 jaunt.

Kenny Basnett, a 6-foot-2 senior, scored five of the points in the run on a shot in the paint and a 3-pointer.

Josh Braddock finished off the streak with a spin move in the lane to make the Eagles sweat some at 47-40 at the 1:49 mark.

But as they had done throughout the contest, the Eagles never took their 'foot off of the pedal.'

Two more baskets by Parks pushed the lead back to eleven although another West shot from a 'coast-to-coast' drive to the basket with :05 before the horn made it 51-42 heading to the final countdown.

Fairfield made one last challenge in the final quarter to get back into the game.

West continued to hold the hot hand, scoring six points early in the quarter.

When teammate Jeremy Puckett hit a pair of free throws with 4:09 remaining, the scoring 'gap' had shrunk to 59-52.

However a four point scoring trip by the Eagles started off a game-saving 6-0 run to keep the Mules at arms length.

After hitting his first free throw attempt, Creamer missed his second shot but an alert Carmickle fought through two Fairfield players for the ball and passed it out to a wide open Creamer who had spotted up on the right wing.

When the sophomore dropped in the 'trifecta' Eldorado had its breathing room back at 63-52.

Daniel Etienne, a 5-foot-11 junior, scored twice for the Eagles on back door shots, courtesy of Craig Parks assists late in the contest. A Carmickle fast break lay up sealed the victory at 73-59.

Fairfield scored seven straight 'window dressing' points to finish the game.

The Mules bright spot for the game was West, who notched a game-high 24-points.
Senior Tim Ukena added 10 points while Braddock added nine.

"West is a nice one-on-one player and he was able to get on a roll," added Goodley. "But we were able to answer all of their runs tonight and the four point play was huge for us. You have to be able to preserve your lead and we did a good job of that tonight."

Both teams head back on the road Tuesday night with the Eagles traveling down route 45 a few miles to hook up with rival Harrisburg while the Mules head to McLeansboro to tackle Hamilton County.

Fairfield (66) - West 9 0 6-6 24, Braddock 3 1 0-2 9, K. Basnett 2 1 0-0 7, Ukena 2 2 0-0 10, R. Basnett 3 0 0-0 6, Puckett 0 0 4-4 4, Baker 0 1 0-0 3, Robson 1 0 0-2 2, Thomason 0 0 1-2 1. 2FG-20, 3FG-5, FT-11-16, PF-9.
Eldorado (73) Etienne 2 1 1-2 8, Harner 2 0 2-2 6, Bradley 2 2 0-0 10, Carmickle 5 2 0-0 16, Parks 8 1 0-0 19, Creamer 1 3 1-2 12, Sims 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-21, 3FG-9, FT-4-6, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Harner, Eldorado.
Technical Fouls - None.