What do Prince and Meat Loaf have in Common?

Give up? Well the answer is: The Oran Eagles.

Okay, I might be stretching it a little bit but follow along. The last time the Eagles had cut down the nets after a District Championship game was 1999 (Party Like its 1999). Also, they beat Advance in two out of three this year; and that ain't bad.

So what was the difference between last night's game and the one on February 15th? I can think of three right of the bat. 1) Tyler Heuring - Healthy; 2) Nathan Michelsen - Healthy; 3) Jon Morrow - Healthy.

First, lets talk about Tyler. In the previous meeting Heuring was unable to play at all. As a result, without its Defensive Terminator, the Hornet's Grant Gray was able to pump in 20 , including five treys, as the Eagles stayed in a zone all evening. Last night, primarily because of the pressure from Heuring, Gray was held to only seven total points and just one three.

Secondly, even though Nathan appeared in the mid-February game, he played sparingly, scoring only eight points. In the Championship game however, Michelsen led his mates in scoring with 22. He scored from outside, inside and most importantly from the free throw line. The Eagles shot an amazing 25-27 from the charity stripe.

Thirdly, one might not have noticed but, even though Jon scored 20 in the previous meeting, he was battling illness. It just goes to show the big man's dominance against Advance. Last night he scored 17 points and grabbed numerous rebounds.

Both Morrow and Michelsen were named to the All-District Team.

As important as these three players were in last night's Championship clinching victory, it was a complete Team victory. With one minute remaining in Quarter 1, the Eagles trailed 14-10. A Joe Shoemaker timeout and a substitution inserting Freshman Phenom Seth Ressel, gave the team the spark they needed and completely changed the game. At that point, Oran went on one of its patented runs. A field goal followed by a steal of the inbounds pass and a field goal by Ressel tied the score at 14 as the quarter ended.

Into halftime the Eagles went on a 20-5 run and led 30-19.

Another crucial part of game occurred when Morrow picked up his 3rd foul with 6:00 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. Advance was only able to cut three points off their deficit while Morrow was on the bench. When Morrow returned to start the fourth, he immediately showed his dominance and proved that Advance could not stop Jon, only Jon could stop Jon.

Throughout the game there were big baskets, big rebounds and big defensive stands from each and every player on the floor. Zac Chasteen converted a big basket after corralling a tough pass on a fast break. Reece Mangles chipped in with 8 points, several rebounds and brought the ball up the court numerous times against the Advance pressure defense. Not only did Heuring shut down Gray, he also added 12 points to the cause.

When all was said and done, the Home Team came away with a hard fought, well-earned victory 72-55.

NEXT UP:

The Eagles will travel to Park Hills on Wednesday, March 9 to take on the winner of tonight's game between #1 seed New Haven and #2 seed Viburnum. Oran's game is scheduled for 6pm.

LADY EAGLES:

The girls all-district team was also announced last night. Two Lady Eagles were named to the team. They were Cheyenne King and Haley Glastetter. The disappointing thing is that, even though Oran hosted the tournament, neither one of these young ladies were in attendance.