Eagles’ Season Ends in First-Round of State Tourney

BY NORM BETZ –

Cossatot River’s season ended in the first-round of the 3A State Tournament, when the Eagles lost to the Flippin Bobcats, 45-21. The Eagles were hoping for a better showing, especially since Cossatot River was hosting the State Tournament, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

“We knew going into the game that we needed to get off to a quick start,” explained first-year Eagles head coach Kevin Kyzer. “It’s so hard to play from behind, especially in the State Tournament.”

 It appeared both teams were a little nervous to start off the contest. Both teams first possessions ended with traveling calls. The Bobcats scored the first points of the game on a lay-up with 5:20 to play. The Eagles really had a hard time getting things going and in fact, ended up being shutout in the first quarter, 8-0. The Bobcats, on the other hand, didn’t exactly get shot out of a cannon, as they led 2-0 with 1:12 left in the opening quarter. Flippin did manage to toss in a pair of three-pointers in the final minute of the quarter.

 “This was the first State appearance for any of the kids on the team, and it showed,” said Kyzer. “It was not all negative, our kids gained valuable experience that you cannot get or learn in practice.”

 The Eagles trailed by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, but cut the lead to 10, as they trailed 19-9 at halftime. Sophomore Cody Baker started off the Eagles’ scoring with 7:05 to play in the second, when he drilled one from three-point land. Senior Edgar Gonzalez led Cossatot River in the second knocking down a pair of 15-footers from the elbow. Senior Ben Counts had to take a seat at the 4:02 mark of the second, when he received his third foul of the game. Sophomore Marco Ramirez rounded out the first-half scoring with a driving baseline lay-up.

 Flippin started off the third with a mini 8-1 run and went on to lead by 17 points, 27-10, with 5:40 to play in the quarter. Uncharacteristically, Counts made one-of-two from the line on the run, for his only point of the contest. The Eagles matched the Bobcats’ output of nine points for the quarter and trailed 28-18 at the end of the third. Senior Josh Jordan threw in a reverse lay-up and later drove the lane for another lay-up, while Gonzalez made a pair from the charity stripe and ended the quarter with a steal, that he took coast-to-coast for a lay-up to end the scoring for the quarter.

Things didn’t get better for the Eagles as they were outscored in the final quarter 17-3, to lose the first-round game, 45-21. With the loss, the Eagles’ season came to an end. Ramirez made the only basket of the quarter, knocking one down from beyond the arc.

“Our kids will learn from this and remember this feeling next season,” said Kyzer. “We do have a young team and three of our six key players are sophomores, so they’ll be back.”

Edgar Gonzalez led the Eagles with eight points. Marco Ramirez finished with five points, Josh Jordan added four points, Cody Baker finished with three points, and Ben Counts rounded out the Cossatot River scoring with one point. The Eagles shot 33% from the stripe, hitting just 3-of-9, while the Bobcats went to the line 17 times and made 14 for 82%.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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