If the O'Neill Eagles were riding high off their 60-38 takedown of the Pierce Bluejays on Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. O'Neill fell to Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] 45-40. While losing is never fun, O'Neill can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] is ranked 33rd).
O'Neill lost on Thursday despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Colton Osborne, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds. Another player making a difference was Drew Morrow, who scored 12 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Even though they lost, O'Neill were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] only pulled down five offensive rebounds.
Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard]'s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Michael Koenig led the charge by scoring 16 points along with three steals. The match was Koenig's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Preston Hoke, who scored ten points along with five steals.
O'Neill now has a losing record at 2-3. As for Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard], their victory was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-0.
O'Neill will head out on the road to face off against Wayne on Saturday. Hopefully Wayne focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up seven on Friday. Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] will be home for the holidays to greet St. Mary's at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Mary's is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
