Watonga Eagles Soar Into New Year With Wins Against Geary

WATONGA – The night began with the Lady Eagles winning the tipoff and scoring the first points of the ballgame against the Geary Bison. Coach Lauren Campo had three “keys” to her victory – pushing the ball, playing smart defense, and having a “new season” this year and playing championship level basketball. These three things were executed well by the Lady Eagles, leading to a 79-18 home court win to start off 2022.

The Lady Eagles (6-2) made quick work of the Lady Bison (1-6). By the end of the first quarter, the Eagle lead was already 30-6. The Bison had troubles with turning over the ball during the full-court press by the Eagles. There were also many early fouls by the Bison, giving the Eagles free-throws that increased the lead early in the game. “We came out very strong to start the game in the first quarter. We were able to sub everyone into the game before half,” Coach Campo said.

Aubrey Bridges and Mary Barton were both the leading scorers in the first quarter. Their fast breaks and layups contributed immensely to their 30 point first quarter. The first quarter was also the Bison’s highest scoring quarter, with 6 points being put on the board.

When the second quarter came around, Azha’Rae Richard quickly took charge of it, putting up 10 points with threes and fast breaks. Richards was having a good game, and led the scoring in the second quarter. The Bison’s man defense was no match for the roll Richards went on.

In the third quarter the Bison continued to struggle with consistency bringing up the ball, unable to get through the Watonga press without turning over the ball. Haley Garmley tried her best to turn the game around in the second half for Geary, but her efforts were unmatched and the Eagles only increased the lead. With Natalie Walker putting up 2 threepointers in the third quarter, the Eagles were on a roll that couldn’t be stopped and continued through the rest of the game. The bench got good action for the Eagles, as Campo was subbing in left and right to get people more minutes of playing time.

“I feel like everyone played their role well. That was a big part of our success as a team,” Campo commented on the efforts of her girls. The main goal for Campo and her team was to improve every time they step on the floor, and improve on both sides of the ball. Team strategy and working on individual weakness were both improved by their efforts against Geary. The Lady Eagles will face Hennessey on Jan. 6 in the Three Rivers Conference Tournament later this week.

In an attempt to start the game off with a dunk from Laron Whiteshield, coach Brandon Gallagher had Deondre Dunn jumping for the tipoff. The tip was won by the Eagles, and the play was set up. However, Laron was quickly fouled and unable to land the dunk. He finished his free throws, scoring the first point of the ballgame. Coach Gallagher is in his first season with Watonga (7-1) and it has so far gone well for the Eagles. “A big key was our defense was solid and we really shared the ball,” Coach Gallagher said on his win against Geary (2-4).

Early in the game, the Bison were running lots of sets and plays to try to jumble the Eagles’ man defense against them. However, they had lots of turnovers and their shots weren’t falling well. They held the Eagles to the best of their ability, and kept the Eagles from scoring abundantly in the first quarter. The game was fast paced, and the boys from both teams were up and down the court many times. To end the first quarter, Osten Reyes and Deondre Dunn both had quick layup plays, making the score for the first quarter 15-1 with the Eagles up.

Devon Wilson had a great second quarter, spotting many threes and making quick work on defense. The second quarter was the best quarter for both teams, the Eagles leaving 26 points on the board, and the Bison with 15. Shots began to fall for both teams and the game heated up quickly. The Bison were making good moves, but their rhythm was interrupted when number 15, Richey, got a technical foul for Geary. Dunn made both shots, and then quickly went on a roll with shots and layups. The Bison fouled a lot in the first half, but Mathew Martin was working hard on offense, putting up as many shots as he could.

The third quarter was not the best for the Eagles. “We got a little cute with our shots around the basket,” Gallagher said. This let the Bison have a higher scoring quarter than the Eagles, putting up 9 points while the Eagles had 5. Three-pointers fell great in the third for them, while the Eagles began to struggle offensively, missing layups and bump shots. However, Watonga remained on top, the score 46-25.

Deondre was the lead scorer of the game, and even got himself a dunk in the beginning of the fourth quarter. But, his rhythm was interrupted by him also getting a technical foul, letting Martin from Geary shoot free throws for easy points. Raul Espinoza was working hard for the Bison, and the Eagles struggled with fouls at the end of the game, however, they found their shot again and put up 22 points to end the game 66-31.

Both teams played till the last second, and the high energy lasted throughout the game. “Overall though, I thought we came out and played well. We know we have a lot of tough games coming up and hope to continue to improve,” Gallagher said. The Eagles are also heading to the Three Rivers Conference Tournament this week, and will face OBA this Thursday.