The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
La Harpe/Dallas City 8th Grade Boys In Regional Basketball Competition
by Michael Rodeffer, The Hancock County Quill
Monday night, the 8th grade La Harpe-Dallas City Eagles boys basketball team took on the host Nauvoo-Colusa school in the first round of Regional play.
The Eagles defeated the Vikings by a 45-28 score. Nate Palmer with 14 and Tucker Anderson with 12 points led the way for the Eagles.
Colton Mellinger added 7 and Peyton Porter, Colton Regain and Braden Bennett each scored 4 points.
The win set up a rematch for the Regional Championship against the Carthage Blueboys on Tuesday night.
With a Regional Championship on the line, the Eagles and Blueboys had a hard fought game all the way. The two teams were tied at 2, 4, and 6 before the Eagles reeled off 6 points for a 12-6 lead.
The Blueboys fought back with 4 points of their own to get within 2 points at 12-10.
With the first quarter ending, Braden Bennett launched a shot from just past half court that banked in for a long 3-pointer and a 15-10 Eagle lead.
In the second quarter the Eagles stretched their lead to 9 points and a 23-14 lead, but the pesty Blueboys scored the last 7 points of the half to only trail by two, 23-21.
The 3rd quarter was almost all Carthage. They added 8 points and held the Eagles to 2 and led the quarter 29-25.
The 4th quarter started with Jacob Scholl hitting a bucket followed by two free throws by Tucker Anderson. Colton Mellinger added a 3-pointer and a 2 point basket as the Eagles jumped to a 5-point lead at 34-29 with 1 minute 9 seconds left.
But the Blueboys were not finished. Nolan Ard hit a long 3 pointer and Bryton Smith added a pair of free throws to knot the score at 34-34 with just 16.9 seconds left.
The Eagles got a shot away that rolled off the rim. The Blueboys rebounded and hit a bucket with 1.6 seconds left and a 36-34 lead.
The Eagles tried a long inbound pass that was deflected and the Blueboys ended up with the win and Regional Championship.
Despite the hard fought loss at Regional, the La Harpe Dallas City Eagles ended their season with an impressive 19-3 record. Scoring for the Eagles were:
Braden Bennett 10
Nate Palmer 7
Jacob Scholl 6
Tucker Anderson 6
Colton Mellinger 5
Nate Palmer ripped down 8 rebounds and had 3 steals.
Jacob Scholl and Tucker Anderson each had 3 rebounds and Scholl also had 4 steals.
For Carthage Blueboys:
Bryton Smith 13
Nolan Ard 7
Austin Curfman 7
Griffin Schuster 4
Dusty Waddell 2
Daniel Harrell 2
Kaden Huston 1
Coaching for the Carthage Blueboys were Kurt Hickenbottom, Carroll Hickenbottom, Tyler Walker and Sci Hickenbottom.
Coaching for the La Harpe-Dallas City Eagles were David Anderson and A.J. Huston.