Eagles Record Back To Back Road Wins

Ankle breaker  - Tyler Knopp blows by Creighton defender in route to the hoop. Photo courtesy Micheal Peterson.

Last Thursday the Eagles traveled to Ainsworth and brought home another victory by defeating the Bulldogs 63-43. The first half was remarkably close with both teams trading baskets, but the Eagle defense stepped up in the second half to hold the Bulldogs to single digits in each of the last two periods. It was a true team effort when it came to scoring as 10 players had at least two points, led by Jordyn Johnson who finished with 13 followed closely by Derrick Hostert with 12 and Tyler Knopp with 10 to go along with his team high four assists. Johnson not only led the Eagles in scoring but, he also ripped down a career high 17 rebounds to lead O’Neill to a dominating performance on the boards by out rebounding Ainsworth 39 to 25 with the help from Connor Peterson and Tyler Knopp who each hauled in eight boards apiece. Knopp also led the team defensively with four steals as Hostert swiped away three. 

“This was a great team effort tonight. We had some guys who had to exert a lot of energy to hold Nick Martin to 14 points because he has the potential for 30 on any given night.” The rest of the guys stepped up and hit some solid shots that certainly helped us pull away,” commented Coach Kallhoff. 

After beating Ainsworth, the Eagles were not done with the Bulldogs because, on Saturday they traveled east to take on the previously undefeated 11-0 Bulldogs of Creighton. O’Neill grabbed an early lead and held it throughout, fighting off a late surge by Ryan Mitteis who scored the game high 29  points, to beat the Bulldogs 77-66. 

“We struggled a bit at the line late in the game to allow a window for Creighton to climb back into it to make it interesting, but we hung in there and never stopped being aggressive which is how we want to play for four quarters,” said Coach Kallhoff. Leading the Eagles on the night was Jordyn Johnson who put together his best game of the season finishing with 28 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Jordyn also won the sportsmanship award given out by Creighton for demonstrating a good attitude, even after fouling out with two minutes to play. Brock Schueth also had a decent night, finishing with 15 points and five assists, as Derrick Hostert chipped in 11 points while leading the defense with six steals. Connor Peterson also did well on the glass for O’Neill by hauling in 12 boards to go along with seven points. Tyler Knopp had nine, Donnie Taylor four, and David Akainda rounded out the scoring with three. The Eagles faced Wagner on Tuesday of this week and host Norfolk Catholic next Tuesday, the 24th. Come support the Eagles vs. Norfolk Catholic as it will be a pink out in support of cancer awareness.