No Easley, no problem.
The Eagles were without their All-State member for the second straight game and still picked up their second consecutive victory. Our Savior's (18-6, 14-4 Conference) put on a defensive clinic for 21 minutes, holding the New Berlin Pretzels (16-9, 10-8 Conference) to just 34.8% shooting for the night as the Eagles escaped with the victory, 64-59.
Gannon Dodd scored the last 19 points for the Pretzels and spearheaded a 19-8 run that had New Berlin down one with six seconds remaining, but pairs of Conor McCaffrey free throws iced it for the Eagles just after double technicals on Logan Allen and the New Berlin bench.
It was clear Our Savior's wanted to push the tempo against a fundamentally sound and veteran team like New Berlin. As a result, the pace and stout defense held the Pretzels to just 1-of-15 shooting from the floor to open the game, and they took a double-digit lead into the break, 37-26.
But an 11-point edge at half probably should’ve been higher if not for 12 first-half turnovers. Our Savior's shot 65% from the field and connected on four of its six first-half 3-point attempts, yet took roughly half as many shots as the Pretzels because of its trouble holding onto the ball.
Our Savior's came out flat start to the second half, which allowed the Pretzels to trim the lead to two possessions within the opening minutes. New Berlin struggled to capitalize, however, as the Eagles started to get McCaffrey going. A drought of five minutes midway through the second half let the Eagles to mount their largest lead of the ballgame at 14.
The Pretzels utilized a spectacular finish from Dodd to make things interesting down the stretch, but couldn’t get over the hump as the Eagles led wire to wire and left with the 64-59 win.