by CJ Blaskowski and Noah Duran
16 Feb 2016
What Happened: The Eaton Reds boys’ basketball team (15-2, 12-2 Patriot) defeated rival Platte Valley Broncos (9-7, 7-6 Patriot) 54-52 at Eaton High School, Tuesday, Feb. 9. The rivalry was definitely renewed with huge playoff seeding implications for both squads. The Reds guaranteed at least a second seed with a win against Platte Valley. With a win, the Platte Valley Broncos would’ve had key wins against Eaton, Sterling, and Strasburg. All of those teams are in the top five in the 3A Patriot League standings (MaxPreps 3A Rankings). The Reds needed a win to stay in pace with Sterling (13-3, 11-2 Patriot) the Tigers are keepers of the Reds only losses. Jared Foss (16) of Eaton led in scoring for the Reds with 14 points and was 7-10 from the free throw line. Parker Joens (16) of Platte Valley led the game in scoring with 21 points and exploited the Reds on the block all night, keeping the Broncos close until the final buzzer.
By The Numbers: Matt Burkhart (16) had eight points and played one of his best games, if not his best game of the year defensively, keeping the Broncos’ leading scorer, Parker Gilliland (16) in check. Gilliland averages about 15 points a game, but Burkhart held him under that at 10 points. With under a minute in the game, he also dished out two big passes to Joe Mondragon (16) to seal the deal for the Reds. Jaxon Hobbs (17) had a tough night keeping Parker Joens off the scoresheet, but for the most part, helped the Reds defensively keep the Broncos off the upset train. When Hobbs was out of the game, Joens had his way with Mudrow. Joens had 11 of his 21 points in the third quarter, where Jaxon Hobbs was on the bench most of the quarter with three fouls.
Should’ve Seen It: With 1:43 left in the fourth quarter, Joe Mondragon (16) completed a three-point-play to ignite the packed crowd in the gym Tuesday night. He got the dish from Burkhart, from the free-throw line and was fouled and made an acrobatic play while drawing the contact. The game was within one or two points the whole way from about 1:56 left in the fourth. Mondragon matched the first basket with two more after that putting the icing on the cake for the Reds. Without these plays, the Broncos would’ve completed the upset of the streaking Reds, winners of five straight.
And the Crowd: The gym was packed Tuesday night, with about 60% Reds fans and 40% Bronco fans. Fans from Kersey always travel well when the Broncos come north and west of town to Eaton High School. The Broncos and the Reds almost always come down to the wire, making the rivalry extra energized. The police were called in on a suspicion of a fan-fight, nothing happened but the Eaton Police was present.
Broncos almost spoil Reds winning streak: The Reds rode a four game winning streak coming into the game. A Jan. 19 loss to Sterling was the last loss the Reds suffered. This game came down to the final seconds and the Reds were very close to seeing their first place perch come crashing to a fall.
Up Next: The Reds ever so slim lead in the Patriot League rides even slimmer as the Reds take on University (4-14, 3-12 Patriot) Tuesday, Feb. 16. The Reds have a ½ game lead over Sterling. The Sterling Tigers have the tiebreaker over the Reds, after winning both contests this year. Admission is $4 for students and $5 for adults, the Bulldogs come to the Eaton High School gym Tuesday, Feb. 16.
