Eldorado Eagle fans didn’t get a chance to see Massac County’s Corey Ayala during the Holiday Tournament due to an injury. And while they surely wouldn’t wish him ill, they probably could have done without seeing him Saturday night at Duff-Kingston Gym.
Ayala scored half of his 22 points in what turned out to be the decisive second quarter. After Eldorado trailed just 26-20 early in the second, Massac County closed on a 21-7 run to blow things open, en route to an 81-50 win.
Massac jumped out to an early lead, with a pair of three-pointers by Quincy Glass and a layup off a stolen inbounds pass by James Lang putting the Pats up 16-6 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The Eagles rolled off the next seven points, getting within 16-13 on a post-up by Cody Lane with two minutes left in the frame, but Massac County’s lead guard, Jarelle Johnson, put a stop to that run. Johnson hit a long jumper from the top of the key, then stripped Nick Houseright near midcourt and went in for a layup and a foul. Johnson’s three-point play conversion put Massac up 24-15, though a Lane three got things within six before quarter’s end.
Lane’s hanging shot in the lane cut the lead to six again at 26-20 a minute into the second, but a scoop shot in the lane by Ayala, followed by an acrobating three-point play off a transition layup by the same, gave Massac a 31-20 lead with 5:17 left in the half.
The Pats’ run reached nine straight points at the 4:14 mark, when Johnson found Ayala again on a runout, and the 6-1 junior threw home an emphatic two-handed dunk.
Eldorado got a post score from Cody Johnston, their first points in nearly three minutes, but Glass drained a three on the other end, as Massac started another run, this one 11-3, to open up a huge halftime lead.
The Eagles got things under 20 just a couple of times in the third quarter, while Ayala finished off his night with eight more points in the frame.
Lane led Eldorado with 24, and Cody Johnston – back after missing Friday’s game with an injury – had 17 and a team-best seven rebounds off the bench. However, the Eagles got just nine points from their other players.
Four Patriots were in double digits. After Ayala’s 22, Lang and Malcolm Amos each had 14, with Johnson scoring 11.
The Eldorado JV fell 65-53, paced by 17 from Trey Sigler and 13 from Devin Aldridge.
The varsity record fell to 12-13 with the loss. They travel to Carmi-White County on Tuesday.
Box Scores
Varsity
MC 24 23 15 19 – 81
ELD 18 9 13 10 – 50
MC: Johnson 4 2-3 11, Ayala 8 6-7 22, Glass 4 0-0 11, Farmer 1 2-2 4, Lang 7 0-0 14, Bazor 1 0-0 2, Sommer 1 1-2 3, Amos 7 0-0 14. Totals: 33 11-14 81.
ELD: Weir 2 0-0 4, Stewart 0 0-1 0, Lane 9 3-9 24, Johnston 6 5-8 17, Griffin 1 0-0 2, Monroe 1 0-0 2, Essary 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 9-20 50.
Three-point field goals: MC 4 (Glass 3, Johnson 1), ELD 3 (Lane 3). Rebounds: MC 37 (Ayala 8), ELD 29 (Johnston 7). Turnovers: MC 13, ELD 27.
JV
MC 17 16 14 18 – 65
ELD 12 9 24 8 – 53
ELD: Aldridge 5 1-1 13, Boulds 1 3-4 6, Sigler 6 1-4 17, Lowery 4 1-4 9, Griffin 4 0-2 8. Totals: 20 6-15 53.
Three-point field goals: Sigler 4, Aldridge 2, Boulds 1.
