The Del City Eagles boy’s basketball team (1-2) had an up and down tournament over the weekend. They held on for a win in day one against Guthrie but ultimately finished in fourth place after back-to-back shooting slumps torpedoed strong defensive efforts against Mustang and Bixby.
The Eagles saw the Guthrie Blue Jays in the first day of the holiday invitational. Del City and Guthrie played each other close through the first two quarters until Eagles’ senior guard Xavier Hunter took over midway through the second scoring five of his 10 first half points in the quarter.
“Last year was really his first year actually playing varsity basketball so he’s grown and developed his outside shot,” said Eagles’ Head Coach Tim Stogsdill on Hunter’s growth. “He’s still learning how to play the game.”
The Eagles finished the half off on an 11-2 run to take a 30-20 lead into halftime. Hunter continued his scoring barrage dropping eight more points in the third quarter to help maintain a 41-32 lead after three quarters of play.
The final quarter proved problematic for the Eagles. The start of the fourth saw the Blue Jays storm back on an 11-0 run to knot the game up at 43 apiece. Cue Del City senior guard and leader Brett Cannon.
Cannon got a huge steal and dunk to tie the game at 47. After the Blue Jays hit both free throws on a questionable taunting technical on Cannon, he again tied the game with two free throws. Del City junior guard Breiman Alexander hit the go ahead jumper to put the Eagles ahead for good, and the Eagles finished off the Blue Jays from the line taking a 55-51 victory.
Del City survived the first of three poor shooting nights from downtown shooting 4-15 from the 3-point line. Hunter had his best night of the tourney with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists going 6-7 from the field and 2-4 from distance. Cannon scored 8 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter adding 6 rebounds.
“He’s a starter four years for us. That’s what your team leader is supposed to do,” said Stogsdill on Cannon. “He’s supposed to step up down the stretch and take over a basketball game for you.”
The Eagles had a tall task in day two. The 6A power Mustang Broncos, equipped with 6’9 sophomore Austin Meyer and 6’5 junior Geoffery Hightower, were up next for Del City.
Cannon started right back where he left off scoring nine points in the first quarter to keep the Eagles in the game. However, Del City’s signature shooting continued to fail them going 0-6 from three and left them down 18-12 to Mustang by the end of the quarter.
Del City continued to fight but still couldn’t find the range as Mustang moved into a zone. The Eagles were 10-10 from the field at halftime but still 0-13 from the 3-point line with one assist. Still, Mustang only held a 32-24 lead at the half.
“When there’s 6’9 inside, you aren’t going to get many looks in the paint,” said Stogsdill on if he ever thought about going away from shooting 3-pointers. “We’re a 3-point shooting team. That’s who we are.”
Finally, the Broncos’ zone and big men proved to be too much in the second half. Meyer and Hightower combined for 16 second half points as they shut the door on the Eagles with a 65-52 win. Cannon survived a 0-8 shooting night from the 3-point line to finish with 22 points. Alexander chipped in with 16 points and was the only Eagle to hit a 3-pointer going 3-5 from behind the arc. Hightower led the Broncos with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Del City finished 23-31 from the field but 3-23 from the 3-point line.
The load wouldn’t get any easier for Del City in the third place game. Another solid 6A school in the Bixby Spartans had a big of their own in OSU commit Mitchel Solomon.
The cold shooting continued for Del City as Bixby threatened to run away and hide early. It seemed every Del City run had a Bixby answer as Bixby still held a double digit lead after three quarters.
Then, Alexander sparked a Del City rally. He poured in eight points as Del City found their shooting stroke to go on a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter. Del City’s momentum swing was fueled by a fierce man to man defense.
However, the edge that put Del City back in the game shot them in the foot as they tried to steal the game. Three technical foul free throws off of two taunting techs proved to be the only points the Spartans could muster over the final three minutes of the quarter equalizing the game at 50-50.
Cannon would miss four free throws within the last minute sending the game into overtime still tied at 50.
The Spartans wouldn’t falter again keeping the lead for good in overtime on their way to a 59-55 win and third place finish.
“Even though we got on the wrong end of the win-loss side, I thought we got better as a team,” said Stogsdill. “I thought we played as well as we have all year defensively. We just have to capitalize and clean up some things on offense, but it’s not about playing our best ball in Decemeber.”
The Eagles travel up the street to take on Midwest City this Saturday, Jan. 4.
