East Union rolls twice over O-M

ORIENT – Monday night was a sweep for East Union basketball, winning both the girls and boys game over Orient-Macksburg.

The EU girls beat O-M 49-31 and the boys beat the Bulldogs 61-37. The win for the Eagle girls brings them to 4-8, while the loss puts the Bulldog girls at 2-9.

In the girls contest, the Eagles and Bulldogs played one another close through the first half. At the end of the first, East Union held a 12-4 lead, which was cut down by a 4-0 run from the Bulldogs in the second quarter to make it 12-8.

Orient-Macksburg saw the game get as close as four on a second-chance score by Caitlyn Gist to make it 14-10.

A second-chance score from Mikenna Cass and a three from Noelle McKnight pushed the score to 19-10, which remained the score at halftime.

In the third quarter, East Union shot ahead off the scoring of Kaylin Lack. Lack’s 14 points, mostly from under the basket, in the third quarter helped give East Union more insurance as it neared the fourth quarter.

Ahead 38-16 entering the last frame, Orient-Macksburg kept the margin around 20 leading to the final. A last-minute score from Gist made it an 18-point loss.

After two tough Pride of Iowa Conference losses, East Union head coach Mike Cooley planned on sending his team in to attack on offense after shooting poorly against Southeast Warren and Central Decatur.

“We were going to attack, and we knew they were going to be depleted,” said Cooley. “We wanted to work on a little bit of a press early. ... It slowed them down, gave ourselves an opportunity to get our feet under us and not have them get down the court.”

The Eagles were efficient in passing, working an extra pass into each possession until an open shot came up. Leading the Eagles in scoring was Lack’s 23 points and McKnight’s 14 points.

Grace Nixon chipped in nine points. Leading in scoring for O-M was Caitlyn Gist’s 15 points.

The contrast in shooting from games prior to Monday was stark, but early on Cooley felt it could be another long night.

“When we first started out the game, I thought, ‘here we go again,’ to be honest with you,” said Cooley. “Halfway through the second quarter we started feeling a little better about our shots. Had a real good third quarter, as far as getting some threes to fall. ... Confidence-wise, by the end of the game, I’m hoping that helps us going into Martensdale (Tuesday night).”

Before the opening tip Monday, O-M’s Addyson Kerr went down with a knee injury and was inactive for the game. Her time for return is undetermined.

Kerr being inactive brings the Bulldogs to six active players on the roster.

Eagle boys storm past Bulldogs

In the boys contest, East Union jumped out early and never looked back for the win.

Before a 5-0 run to close the first quarter, the Eagles held a 13-4 lead on O-M. The margin was pulled back before halftime with an 11-0 run to open the second quarter to make it 25-9.

Entering the second quarter trailing by five, the plan of attack for the Bulldogs was to work the ball across the floor to look for an opening.

“We know we can exploit and stick to our game plan,” said O-M head coach Jordan Thompson. “With a limited amount of guys, we were trying to go at our own pace and not try and get into a running match. Our plan was to work the ball around and look for good shots. Unfortunately, a couple of mishandles, bad passes and turnovers lead to run-out layups, and all of a sudden we’re trying to play pick-up the rest of the game. Credit to them.”

Two free throws from Scott Driskill before the halftime horn made the game 33-16, with East Union showing no signs of wanting to slow down any of its offense.

East Union’s offense consisted almost entirely of running the floor with speed, trying to get behind the Bulldog defense for layup scores. Eventually, the Eagles opened up the offense after they slowed the game down, starting to connect from 3-point range.

“We’re a pretty quick team, so when we do secure a rebound, we try to get out in transition and score easy buckets when we can,” said East Union head coach Jared Carter. “... We always want to run in transition. We’re really working on moving the ball. We’ve had a few quarters where we’ve been stagnant with the ball and not moving it well. I thought for the most part, we did a good job of getting it in the paint. ... All around, I think it was a really good team win.”

The Eagles continued to haul off with the win, even with reserves off the bench. Orient-Macksburg had limited answers, but was able to put points on the board on occasion through the second half.

Leading in points for Orient-Macksburg was Chase Walker’s 14 points. East Union was led in scoring by Cale Eklund’s 20 points and Scott Driskill’s 14 points.

Jordan Thompson acknowledges the Eagles’ talent, despite having an unflattering record of 2-8 in a strong Pride of Iowa Conference. Entering Monday, the O-M boys were 1-8.

“We know they play in a tough conference with good competition, night-in-and-night-out. They don’t ever get a break. ... They always do a lot of right things. They push the ball, they’re aggressive and had a couple of guys show up tonight,” said Thompson. “Driskill, Eklund, they’re good players. Along with (Kael) Seales, (Alex) Kerrigan and (Gus) McNeil, they’re tough guys. ... They know how to put it in the basket.”

Girls

East Union 49, Orient-Macksburg 31

EAST UNION (49) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 21 3-10 49. Kaylin Lack 11 0-5 23, Moelle McKnight 6 0-1 14, Grace Nixon 3 2-2 9, Karah Kirkland 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 3. Team fouls — 23. Fouled out — Nick Miller

ORIENT-MACKSBURG (31) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 14 2-9 31. Caitlyn Gist 6 2-4 15, Kinsey Eslinger 5 0-2 10, Christa Cass 2 0-0 4, Emily Campbell 1 0-2 2. 3-point goals — 1. Team fouls — 9. Fouled out — None.

Boys

East Union 61, Orient-Macksburg 37

EAST UNION (61) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 25 8-15 61. Cale Eklund 8 2-4 20, Scott Driskill 6 2-2 14, Alex Carrigan 4 0-0 8, Gus McNeil 4 0-1 8, Seth Hudson 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Carlson 0 2-2 2 , Storm Hoadley 1 0-0 2, Skylar Brunner 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 2. Team fouls — 6. Fouled out — None.

ORIENT-MACKSBURG (37) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 16 5-10 37. Chase Walker 6 2-2 14, Wiley Ray 4 1-2 9, Blake Thompson 4 0-0 8, Tyson Ross 2 2-6 6. 3-point goals — 0. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — None.