EHT Recaps: Eldorado upsets No. 6 seed Carmi-White County
Offense might sell tickets, but Eldorado head coach Josh Bradley knows that defense will win championships - or in this case a 48-39 upset win over No. 6 seed Carmi-White County at Monday's Eldorado Holiday Tournament.
After Carmi-White County grabbed a 39-38 lead with 5:32 to go in the fourth quarter and Eldorado countered with a Boston Bradley bucket underneath with 5:05 to play, the elder Bradley installed a 1-2-2 zone defense that held the Bulldogs scoreless for the reminder of the game.
In the 10-0 run, Eldorado got key contributions from Trevor Milligan, Gage Heath, Josh Owens and Parker Price to seal the deal.
"I thought once we took the lead and went to the 1-2-2, we were trying to get there, but we also needed to the lead to do so, that was the difference," Bradley said. "That kept Carmi from being able to get penetration on us and we did a better job rebounding out of it."
A total of five lead changes and four ties occurred in the first quarter of play as Carmi-White County grabbed an early 16-11 lead.
Eldorado regrouped in the second quarter, getting a pair of baskets from Price as the Eagles closed to within one at halftime, 25-24.
Carmi-White County still outscored Eldorado 11-10 in the third quarter to keep a 36-34 lead going into the game's final eight minutes, where the Eagles outscored their Black Diamond Conference counterpart 14-3.
Bradley wouldn't go as so far to call Monday night's win an upset however.
"Those were two teams that are pretty evenly matched. Bryce Conner is their best player. Parker Price is our best player, so then it comes down to having a couple of role players that are willing to hit a shot or two and be able to rebound. It's probably going to be ugly and that's what it was. I thought Gage Heath and Josh Owens hit a couple of big shots for us in the second half."
Eldorado (6-5) got a game-high 17 points from Price, while Heath netted nine points in the win.
Owens added eight for the Eagles, while Bradley and Milligan each scored six points. Brock Cantrell had two points, coming in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs (4-6) got 16 points from Connor, while Tyler Goemaat scored seven points. Brody Atteberry chipped in with six points for CWC, while Landon Driscoll and Mitchell Edwards each finished with five points a piece.
Hamilton County will play Eldorado in tomorrow night's quarterfinals at 7 p.m., while NCOE will take on Carmi-White County at 10 a.m. in the consolation bracket.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.