#7 Overland Overwhelms #2 Eaglecrest
The #7 Overland Trailblazers walked into the Nest at Eaglecrest High School Wednesday night and sent a loud and clear message to the host #2 Raptors and the rest of the state.. The demise of the Overland Trailblazers has been greatly exaggerated . The Trailblazers had the most impressive defensive performance of the season, holding Eaglecrest to just eight, yes, eight field goals in the game. DeRon Davis and crew dominated every facet of the defensive end of the floor including keeping the Raptors off the offensive glass. Which lead to easy baskets for the Trailblazer and a runaway 63-41 victory.
Overland got off to an impressive 5-0 lead capped by this Davis steal and dunk
Even with the impressive start Eaglecrest answered and was in striking distance at the end of the quarter trailing 14-10. Then the Overland defense locked up the Raptors in the second quarter allowing the Raptors to make only one field goal. The rest of the Raptors points came from the free throw line . Meanwhile Overland’s senior guard Jervay Robinson put on a scoring display in the quarter scoring 10 of Overlands 20 points in the quarter.
Overland’s two and ones, the first by Alijah Haliburton and the last before the buzzer by Robinson, in the last 44 seconds of the quarter expanded an 8 point lead to 14 points at halftime. Haliburton a future Wyoming football player used his incredible athleticism for fantastic finishes above the rim and sky for rebounds.
Eaglecrest had trouble all night finding any kind of rhythm or clean looks at the basket. A big part of that was Davis, the 6’9 man in the middle tallied 6 blocks and altered many more. The rest of the Trailblazers were stellar as well keeping the Raptors from getting to the paint. Through most of the season the Raptors have gotten contributions from everyone whether it was a timely three pointer or grabbing a rebound or hustling for a loose ball. Tonight they couldn’t get any of those things to happen. Overland’s defense and athleticism was just too much and had salted the game away mid way through the third quarter.
Even though they shot 23 of 34 on the night from the free throw line, it was the only way the Raptors could score. If there was a downside for the Trailblazers on the night was the fact that three players fouled out and they only shot 16 of 30 from the free throw line.
Double Digit Scorers
Overland
Robinson 15
A. Haliburton 18
Davis 10
Wang 11
Eaglecrest
Ross -16
