The SoBoCo boys basketball team met a pair of hot-shooting teams this past week and found a way to defeat both of them.

The Eagles, now 14-4, out-pointed Eldon 74-43 on Friday and defeated Boonville in a wild contest 71-56.

The Eagles got 28 points from Sam Stichnote and 17 points from Rece Gilmore in their Monday win over the Pirates, but it was a large supporting cast which pushed the Eagles to their 14th win of the season, according to coach Andy Jahnsen.

“We had a lot of guys involved tonight,” Jahnsen said. “We had a couple of key baskets from Seth Mueller, a big three from Tyson Smith and Derek Gilmore came off the bench and sparked us defensively and had a big steal and layup – so we were spreading the ball around a lot and those contributions from everyone allow Sam and Rece some open looks.”

The Eagles had to be patient, however, as the Pirates seemed to have a number of shots fall in the basket.

“They had someone who followed his own shot by banking one in as he ran over the baseline,” Jahnsen said with a laugh. “They had a lot of shots fall for them tonight.”

The two teams opened the game with a 13-13 quarter, but Derek Gilmore’s two baskets, a Brady Trammell hoop and a pair of free throws by Mueller gave the Eagles a 31-25 lead at the break.

Stichnote took over the third quarter, but each time it looked as though the Eagles were going to put the Pirates away, the visitors would throw down another 3-pointer to keep the game to a single-digit defecit.

~ There’s more Eagles Basketball in today’s Journal ~

By Bruce Wallace