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Eldorado eliminates Gallatin County on Day 2 of EHT

What a difference a month makes.

Earlier in December, Gallatin County walked into Duff-Kingston Gymnasium and stole a 53-46 road win, thanks in large part to outscoring Eldorado 18-14 in the game's final eight minutes.

Fast forward to Friday morning on Day 2 at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and the Eagles made sure that history didn't repeat itself.

Aiden Whitlock had a lot to do with that.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore used his size and strength to score a career, season and team-high 31 points propelling the Eagles to a 77-63 win in the losers bracket of the EHT.

EHS head coach Josh Bradley said Whitlock was challenged before the game and step up and be the player the 5th year coach knows he can be.

"It's been a little frustrating. We, as coaches, we know he can play and we want him to be more aggressive and take more shots and I thought today he accepted that challenge and looked more like the basketball player we think he can be."

Whitlock scored just eight points in the first half as Eldorado took a 35-32 lead into the locker room, but exploded for 23 points in the second half, eight of which came in a pivotal third quarter where the Eagles established a lead they would not relinquish.

There were 13 lead changes and four ties in the game, but Whitlock went on a six-point stretch of scoring, giving EHS a 47-41 lead and they never looked back.

Gallatin County head coach Jeff Hermann said the biggest difference to him was his Hawks' inability to box out.

"We didn't box it, it makes a huge difference," Hermann said. Free throws and boxing out and those are two things we didn't do very well."

Gallatin County went 18-for-26 from the free throw line and put three players in double figures as Robbie Prince had a team-high 18 points, while Audie Goebel finished with 14 points and Gunner Wilson scored 11 points.

Eldorado also had multiple players in double figures.

After Whitlock's 31 points, Joe Mayberry netted 15 points and Jace Jenkins had a career-high 15 points, while Nolan Milligan tacked on 10 points.

Bradley pointed out the efforts from Jenkins and Milligan as the major difference in this game.

"Last time they kind of pushed us around and beat us to loose balls and that was one thing we didn't want to let happen," Bradley noted. "I really thought that Jace Jenkins and Nolan Milligan off the bench really helped set that tone early for us in the game.

"The energy that Jace brought kind of allowed other guys to feed off that. It's one of the reasons why we moved him from a starter to the bench is because of the energy he brings off the bench. Today, he filled that role really well."

Eldorado then got a pair of three point performances from Bryant Byrd and Ladayyea Shewmaker.

Dawson Hish added eight points, while Garrett Rushing scored seven points. Connor Kiescoms tacked on three points. Lucas Reeder had two points for the Hawks.

Eldorado will now play Hardin County in another elimination game tonight at 10 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Vienna eliminated Hamilton County 56-46, where Lane Ross led the Eagles with 17 points. Garrett Webb had a team-high 19 points for Hamilton County.

Hardin County then beat Carrier Mills 57-33.

Gabe Fowler had a team-high 13 points for the Cougars, while Conrad Cowsert tacked on 10 points. Colton Betz led CMSF with 11 points.

Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.