Boys basketball play for 7th place in the 3A Patriot District Tournament

The Eaton boys basketball team will be fighting for 7th place in the district tournament on Feb. 23. The Reds have fought not only against rival teams, but have also been in a battle to improve themselves. Dean Grable, the head coach of the varsity team said, “Every time we play we tell our guys its never about the score. We never want to play to a score board. Our guys played with a lot of emotion. They competed and never quit. Especially under the circumstances.” The boys basketball team has been fighting endlessly throughout the restless season.

At the beginning of the month, on Feb. 8 the boys played against Sterling for their senior night game. Junior Maldonado (18) said, “It was emotional because of Kennedi. It brought back Dallas. To have the community come together was something big.” Unlike any other senior night, the Reds had not only the responsibility to join an entire community together, but also the support of hundreds as they played through a tragedy. Assistant Coach, Amy Ross, said, “Coach Grabel said it best when he says the score on the scoreboard at the end of the game doesn’t matter. It’s how you played and quite honestly the fact that our boys got on the court and played, again, is a win. It doesn’t matter what the score was it was a win for them to have to do this again. At one point I looked at the score, and I thought, “It doesn’t even matter. It really doesn’t. It’s just a game. It’s one game in a season. And yea, it was a senior night and we wanted to honor those seniors, but there are so many more important things and coach Grable shared,” It’s not about the game, its about becoming a man of character. Being a future husband and father and those are the lessons. It wasn’t about basketball last night it was about being a man, and what it means to preserver through tragedy and adversity. I think that our boys, unfortunately, do that really well.” The Reds entered the District tournament after another loss to University on Feb. 13.

In the past few weeks, the Reds have competed in the 3A District Tournament. They started the tournament with a 3A Patriot League play in game against University. The Reds dominated and won against the Bulldogs with a score of 66-53 on Feb. 16. Their winning start in the tournament did not last long as they fell short to Sterling with a score of 85-28 and to Valley with a tally of 68-44. With high hopes and heavy hearts the Reds will play for Kennedi Ingram, and Dallas Duran as an inspiration in the games to come.

Leading the 3A Patriot League, Sterling has gone undefeated their entire season. Platte Valley is leading in second with a 9-1 standing, and Resurrection is right on their tail with an 8-2 standing. Sterling and Resurrection Christian will be playing at 7:30 p.m. at UNC for the Patriot District Tournament championship title.

The Reds will be playing on Feb. 23 at 10:30 a.m. against Estes Park for 7th place at UNC.

Tournament Bracket