By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– The Regis Boys Basketball was well, Regis Boys Basketball Wednesday night to open the season against Crosshill Christian.
The offense was there and it saw three quarters of at least 20-points scored. 25 in the first quarter, 22 in the second and 24 in the third quarter in the Rams 82-62 victory over an Eagle squad playing in their first game as a 2A team.
Isaiah Koehnke scored 36 points for the Rams, Eli Silbernagel scored 12 and Lucas Koehnke added 14 in the home win for the Rams, who are coming off a fourth-place finish in 2A last season..
“We always score enough points, but on defense, just sharpen everything and come together on defense..especially in those big games down the line will be huge,” said Isaiah Koehnke.
The defense had a chance to shine in the third quarter when the offense came out of the halftime break colder than compared to the first half. It kept the lead in check until the offense was able to hit some shots and began to rebuild that lead once more.
And with a few more practices ahead of them before next week’s full slate of a Tri-River Conference contest against Delphian on Monday and the Dayton Invitational next Thursday through Saturday, they now know some things to help improve on that defense.
“It felt really good seeing what we’ve been doing in practice happening in games,” starts Isaiah Koehnke. “Rebounding. So not letting the other team get second-chance points will be huge.”
The Eagles, coming off an Elite 8 run last season in 1A, have several new faces on their roster this season following the graduation of six seniors from last year’s 21-8 squad.
But for Head Coach Brian Spaulding, games like Wednesday night and going out for the Bounc’n Cancer Tournament this weekend, will help his squad in the future.A good measuring stick Spaulding points towards as they embark on their first season at the Class 2A Classification this season.
“Losing six seniors is tough for any team. We did have several guys who have started back this year, I think it’s a good test to see where we’re at. Regis is a really great team, they’re going to be over in Pendleton again more than likely,” Spaulding said. “We had good spurts where we showed some good things, but it wasn’t consistent for today. So it was good for the team to be like, ‘alright, it’s a good measure against a good Top 5 team and we’ll see where we’re at moving forward’.”
Jackson Lytle led Crosshill Christian with 14 points, Grady Lytle scored 13, Justus Kronberger scored 11, Miles Lute and Marcus Nauta each scored ten for the Eagles in their season opener.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
