With the 72-61 win over 3-seed Jacksonville in the conference semifinals, the Eagles move on to play the 5-seed Bethel Morton in Wednesday's Conference Championship.
No. 3 Our Savior's (34-6) is seeking its first conference tournament title ever and heads into the matchup as one of the hottest teams in the State. Winners of 20 of their last 21, the Eagles should be a lock for the No. 1 seed when the LSA State Tournament bracket is announced tomorrow evening.
Two things were evident from the opening tip: a) the second semifinal matchup of the day was going to feature a lot more points than the first and b) the Eagles came to play.
Our Savior's assisted on 13 of its 18 first-half made field goals, most of which came by way of Conor McCaffrey. The first team all-conference selection surpassed 20 points in the first half and never looked back.
Turnovers are an area where the Eagles typically struggle, but that wasn’t the case to start, only coughing it up twice in the first half. On the flip side of that, Jacksonville is one of the most fundamentally sound squads in the state, averaging less than 10 turnovers a game. But the pesky Eagles defense turned Jacksonville over 12 times for 19 points off turnovers.
Jacksonville stayed within striking distance mostly due to their hot outside shooting. The Rockets connected of 6 of its first 13 three-point attempts with the Eagles taking a 35-27 edge into the break.
Easley capped off an 8-2 run to open the second period with a Logan Allen lob that essentially set the tone for the final 12 minutes. The Eagles continued to pound the paint, outscoring the Rockets 47-19 down low.
With both Jeremiah Perkins and Ian Klockenga sidelined midway through the second half because of foul trouble, head coach Phillip Heppe turned 7th grader Jack Turnbull to provide valuable frontcourt minutes. Turnbull had only appeared in six games before Friday's matchup, but held his own on defense against player of the year candidate Michael Wilson.
Who else would the Eagles turn to to close out the game, but none other than Easley. He’s spent his entire career icing close ones for Our Savior's, and that’s exactly what he did on Tuesday. Easley went for a team-high 17 points in the second half as the Eagles pulled away, 72-61, for their first conference tournament finals appearance in 5 years.