Jace Easley scored a career-high 38 points to lead No.14 Our Savior's to a hard-fought 94-85 win over Danville on Saturday morning.
Our Savior's (4-2) started slowly, trailing the Crusaders by as many as 12 points in the first quarter. Timely buckets from Easley and Conor McCaffrey, helped the Eagles go on a 15-5 run to take a one-point lead at the half.
McCaffrey scored 30 points on 8 of 14 shooting, connecting on 6 of 11 3-point attempts. He also scored the team's first six points in the second half.
"(McCaffrey) played like a veteran," Our Savior's coach Todd Dejaynes said. "Played like a guy I've label one of the best shooters in the state. We needed every one of those points from both of those guys."
Easley got open in the lane for a free layup to put the Eagles up 88-83 with 1:40 to play, and later knocked down a pair of free throws to clinch the win in the final minute.
Justin Johnson was the leading scorer for Danville (4-3) with 28 points. Marek Nelson had 23 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Our Savior's got back Drew Dejaynes from a knee injury that could have potentially sidelined him for a few more days, Dejaynes returned and poured in 13 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals on a limited minutes restriction.
Easley did his best to fill in on defense when Dejaynes was out of the ballgame.
"I was going to roll with Jace because they couldn't stop him," Dejaynes said.
It was McCaffrey's second time this week scoring more than 15 points. On Wednesday, he made 3 3's for 15 points in a 72-64 win over Blessed Sacrament on Wednesday.
"Like I said the other day, I'm back," McCaffrey said. "I've been working a lot on my game, and I feel like it's getting there. I'm just going to keep doing the dame thing to help my team win."
Danville repeatedly triple-teamed Easley in the paint, and McCaffrey was the main beneficiary.
"Every time he shoots it, I have a smile on my face," Easley said.
Saturday marked the first time that Our Savior's had two players score 30 or more points for the first time in Our Savior's history, JV or Varsity level.
Something tells me that McCaffrey and Easley aren't done with this just yet...
BIG PICTURE
Injuries and other abscenses on their frontline have stunted Our Savior's chemistry early on this season. If Easley, McCaffrey and Dejaynes are the only players able to consistently produce, it could spell trouble next month with Pleasant Plains, Trinity Bloomington and No.17 Metamora looming.