Eaton Reds boys basketball comes out hot with three games and three wins. On Saturday Dec. 4, the boys went up against the Wiggins Tigers and won by a 40 point difference with a final score of 83-43. With an outstanding game, Haythorn scored 20 points and had six rebounds. The young talent in this year’s 2021-22 should not go unappreciated. Lucas Stone (24) and Haythorn are two prominent athletes for the Reds and will be key players for years to come. During the first half the boys started off a little slow outside of the key with only 13 points in the first quarter, but once the boys started to get back into the groove, they scored a high of 25 points in the second quarter. By scoring 45 points in the second half, the boys secured the win for the Reds against the Tigers. Head coach Dean Grable said, “The team is playing extremely well on the offensive end of the floor, sharing the basketball and taking care of it.” Looking towards the next game on Friday, Dec. 10 against the Highland Huskies, Coach Grable said, “Our goal is to get better on the defensive side of the floor and play the best basketball we possibly can in every single possession.”

After a full week of practice and time to reflect on the week’s previous matchups, the boys started to develop a game plan for the Highland game. Going into the week with only one game, the boys knew that their focus had to be solely on the rival game to come.

L. Stone (24) said, “We tried to get into the mindset that the game was going to be challenging and in order to come out on top we have to work together.”

The defense for the Reds is still a work in progress as it’s still early in the season but improvements were definitely made compared to the last two games for the Reds..

Leading the Reds for points was Martin with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and two assists. Following Martin in points was the standout sophomore Haythorn with 25 points, five rebounds, and four steals. Trailing in the first quarter, the Reds were down 19-21. As the game progressed, the boys scored 24 points in the second quarter to pull them ahead of the Huskies by halftime. The second half started and it was a nail biter to say the least. By the end of the fourth quarter both teams were tied and Z. Grable had accumulated his fifth foul and was out of the game. In overtime, W. Grable also fouled out, and two key players for the Reds were now both out of the game. Keeping the fans on their toes, the Reds came out on top with a 86-83 final.

The boys are now off to a 3-0 start and are heading to Yuma to play two out-of-conference games against the Yuma Indians and the Limon Badgers. To stay tuned with the Reds’ progress make sure to watch on NFHS and check for recaps on eatonredink.com.