02-10-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
JOHNSTON CITY – The Eldorado Eagles survived a tough fourth quarter of mistakes and fouls to outlast Johnston City on Friday night on the road.

Coach T.J. Zurliene's team couldn't shake loose from the host Indians until the overtime session.

And even then, Coach Wade Thomas' Tribe had a shot to win the game in the final seconds but couldn't connect as Eldorado improved to 11-18 overall and 3-6 in the East Division of the Black Diamond Conference.

As for Johnston City, it was another close loss to their league rivals, despite 19-points from 6-foot-3 sophomore Jake Davison.

In fact JC put four players in double-figures in scoring in the contest.

Austin McPheron scored 14-points while Hunter Zeigler added 13. Teammate Levi Tanner added 11-points but, as it has been the case most of the season (8-21 overall, 2-7 BDC), the Indians couldn't hit the big shot when they needed the lead.

JC climbed back into the contest in the fourth quarter by cashing in from the foul line. The Indians hit 12-of-15 shots from the stripe.

The problem for the Indians in their rally was that they were just 1-of-8 from the floor in the fourth stanza.

Had they made a few extra shots they would have picked up the win in regulation.

Johnston City was just 18-of-52 from the field, 3-of-20 from long range.

“The start of the overtime was what got us the win. We got up six and kept our lead. We did turn it over a lot but we defended pretty well for the game and rebounded pretty well,” explained Eldorado head coach Coach Zurliene. “We could have folded when they made a run at us and earlier in the year we may have done that, but our guys really held their composure. Tonight we made the right decisions when we had to. When we needed a bucket we dug down and got.”

Eldorado was led in scoring by Trey Sigler with 25-points. This 6-foot-2 senior forward stepped out and canned six 3-pointers, the only Eagles' player to connect from long range.

Lucas Weier, a 6-foot-4 senior forward who had missed five weeks due to an injury, returned to the lineup and added 15-points despite foul trouble on the night.

Eldorado, after committing eight crucial turnovers in the fourth frame, took the lead for good with a quick 6-0 run to begin the overtime.

A Justin Wiseman basket from the right blocks, a pair of free throws by Devin Aldridge and a drive in the lane by Sigler pushed the Eagles to a 58-52 advantage.

Johnston City never gave up and rallied twice in the extra session to within one point each time.

A 3-pointer from Tanner cut the lead to 58-57 with 1:07 remaining.

Then, after another Wiseman score, Eldorado did the unthinkable and fouled Zeigler on a drive to the basket.

Zeigler converted the foul by Brennan Unthank into a three-point play to make it 62-61 with :07.7 remaining.

Having to foul, the Indians put Eldorado's Weier at the foul line with :06.2 left.

Weier converted the second of two shots to give the Eagles their final margin of victory.

Tanner managed to get a 3-point shot off in the final moments that misfired. Davison grabbed the rebound but his off balance shot failed to find the mark as Eldorado managed to escape with the triumph.

In a close contest in which the largest lead by either team was eight points, it was a back-and-forth affair.

Sigler got his club rolling early, connecting on a pair of trey's in the first quarter.

His second bomb found the mark with just under a minute left in the first quarter to give Eldorado a 13-10 advantage.

Coach Thomas' club took a brief second quarter lead on a 6-0 run with Davison, McPheron and Zeigler all inking the book.

When Zeigler rebounded a McPheron miss with 6:08 remaining in the half, Johnston City led 18-16.

Weier led Eldorado right back with a pair of baskets as Eldorado took back the lead at 22-18.

But then again, Johnston City answered with Davison and Tanner scoring baskets.

Tanner tipped in a missed shot to even the game at 22.

But then Sigler drove to the basket for a score and followed that up with a steal and an assist to Unthank for a lay in and a 26-22 halftime edge.

Eldorado could have put the Indians away in the third quarter but failed to do so because of five turnovers.

Sigler hit two more long range shots with his bucket at the 1:42 mark giving Eldorado a 38-34 lead.

However, as they did all night, Johnston City rallied.

They did it from the foul line as the Eagles continued to rack up the personal fouls.

Tyler Johnson and McPheron combined to make 4-of-6 charities in the last 1:03 to tie the game at 38-all heading into the final quarter.

The Indians had two fourth quarter leads with the first one coming on the only field goal they made in the frame, a 3-pointer by Zeigler to give JC a 41-40 lead with 6:53 left.

Their final advantage of the contest came with :21.3 remaining in regulation.

Zeigler hit 1-of-2 foul shots for a 52-51 lead.

Eldorado evened the game when Sigler also hit 1-of-2 free throws.

After a timeout, JC worked for a final shot but McPheron's 3-pointer from the right wing fell way short just before the buzzer.

Eldorado could have made things a lot easier on themselves had they not paraded the hosts to the foul line.

“We did foul them a lot in the second half and gave them a lot of free throw chances,” said T.J. Zurliene. “Our offense was running well and we were able to get the ball inside to Lucas Weier and Justin Wiseman. Trey Sigler was able to get open for the 3's. Our offense kept us in it.”

Johnston City hit 22-of-31 attempts from the line.

But the Achilles heel for the Indians was their shooting woes (34.6 percent) many of which were good looks at the basket that rattled out.

Eldorado wasn't that much better from the field, hitting 23-of-53 (43.3 percent) while committing 19-turnovers.

But the Eagles won the battle of the boards, 36-30.

Eldorado will travel to Christopher on Saturday night while Johnston City won't play again until next Friday as they close the regular season hosting Hamilton County.

Eldorado (63) – Sigler 3 6 1-2 25, Weier 4 0 7-8 15, Unthank 1 0 0-0 2, Aldridge 0 0 3-4 3, Prather 1 0 0-0 2, Boulds 4 0 0-4 8, Deaton 0 0 0-0 0, Wiseman 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-17, 3FG-6, FT-11-18, PF-26.
Johnston City (61) – Tanner 2 1 4-5 11, Zeigler 2 2 3-5 13, Watkins 0 0 0-0 0, Lonergan 0 0 0-0 0, McPheron 3 0 8-8 14, Johnson 1 0 2-4 4, Davison 7 0 5-9 19.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-22-31, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Boulds, Eldorado; Johnson, Johnston City.
Technical Fouls – None.