by CJ Blaskowski and Noah Duran

26 Jan 2016

What Happened: The Eaton Reds Boys Basketball team (11-2, 8-2 Patriot) defeated Estes Park (3-7, 2-6 Patriot) Friday night, Jan. 22 by a score of 76-51. The Reds entered the second half trailing 34-31 to the Bobcats. The Reds entered the game off with a typical slow start. The rebounding for the Reds was a tad derailed with four Estes Park players over 6’3” All of the Bobcats were seniors. Most of the gym was a little shocked after the first quarter, resulting in an Estes Park lead of 21-10.

By the Numbers: The Eaton Reds are ranked second in 3A in the state of Colorado. (MaxPreps Rankings) Jared Foss (16) of Eaton, ended the game with 22 points, Jaxon Hobbs (17) had six points, but also played extremely well on the boards. Once Hobbs settled in, the game turned around for the good. The third quarter was the dagger for the Reds. Eaton won the quarter huge, 25-2 in just the third quarter. Joe Mondragon, (16) coming off of the best game of the year for him against Sterling, had 10 points and a big game on the boards as well.

Should’ve Seen It: Early in the second quarter, the Bobcats found themselves in foul trouble, 7 fouls. Typically after seven fouls, the opposing team gets a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity. After 10 fouls, the opposing team gets to shoot two free throws after each foul for the rest of the half. The Bobcats fouled for the eighth time, a 1-and-1 opportunity should have been presented to the Reds. But a miscommunication between the referees left the Reds with an inbound opportunity on the same end of the court. A 1-and-1 free throw opportunity should’ve been awarded to the Reds, but wasn’t. This play ignited the Reds fire and the players seemed to play with a chip on their shoulder. This call changed the game for both sides, but farther down the road, it was the turning point for Eaton, in the game.

And The Crowd: During the first quarter, the Estes Park Bobcats got stop after stop on defense and scored several opportunities on the other end of the court. The Bobcats led 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. The gym was eerily quiet and the usual high-energy Eaton High School gym was very serene.

Basketball is a Four-Quarter Sport: The Estes Park Bobcats played as good of a first half that can be against the defensive minded, aggressive Eaton Reds. The Bobcats took advantage of several turnovers and a sloppy start for the Reds. In the third quarter, the Reds won the quarter demandingly by a score of 25-2 in just the third quarter. The Bobcats just ran out of energy and the Reds turned it around and escaped the upset scare.

Up Next: The Reds play the Frontier Academy Wolverines at Bank of Colorado Arena at UNC Friday, Jan. 29 at 7:30. The Wolverines topped the Strasburg Indians at the Pepsi Center in double overtime Monday, Jan. 25. The game should be another a great rematch of the Patriot League home-opener for the Reds.