PREP BOYS HOOPS: Iron Unkind To Eagles
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ It was a night when the iron was just unkind for Eldorado.
The Eagles shot 9-of-39 from the field en route to a 45-34 upset to the hands of Johnston City Monday night at the IHSA Class 2A Regional at Rich Herrin Gymnasium.
Eldorado got behind early, trailing 8-3 in the opening going, before knotting the score at 8-all.
Johnston City would close out the first quarter up 10-8 and then went to work on the scoreboard.
The Eagles went 0-of-6 from the field in the second stanza, scoring just two points, while Johnston City was the recipient of 11 points off seven Eldorado turnovers as they took a 21-10 halftime lead.
The Eagles had their best shooting performance in the third quarter as they went 4-of-10 from the field and outscored Johnston City 14-12, but the Indians still held the advantage at 33-24.
In the final eight minutes, Eldorado cut the lead to within five, twice once at 35-30 and against 39-34, but from there, Johnston City would go 6-of-12 from the free throw line to hold on for the 45-34 victory.
Despite their efforts, it was a game that Eldorado head coach T.J. Zurliene saw coming after playing the Indians for the fifth time this season.
"Every time we got to within five they would make a little run with some easy layups and hit a couple of big shots. Johnston City played their butts off tonight and they deserved to win the game.
It's been a tough year and we've played these guys five times now. We beat them by one-point the first time and then 10, but then it was two and two and one was in overtime. We have battled them all year and being without Brennan Unthank was a big loss because with him in the lineup that press doesn't hurt us as bad."
Zurliene feels the press is what gave his team's the most fits, especially in the early going as Eldorado coughed up the rock 10 times in the first half.
Davison on the point caused a lot of problems for our guys on the point. He really caused havoc with his length and the steals. It hurt us, there's no question."
For the Indians, one key to keeping the Eagles at bay was the play of Austin McPheron.
The 6-foot-3 junior had eight points in the third quarter and another six in the fourth to finish with a game-high 15 points.
Jake Davison tacked on another 10 for Johnston City.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Lucas Weir's 13 points. No other Eldorado player posted double figure scoring.
Devin Aldridge scored seven points, while Trey Sigler finished with five points. Tyler Deaton chipped in with four points and Joel Boulds had three. Dakota Prather and Dylan Lawrence each had a free throw.