UNION CITY — Hydro-Eakly went 11 days without playing a game before playing at Union City Tuesday.
The layoff didn’t hurt the Bobcats much, as they defeated Union City 88-46 to remain unbeaten on the season.
“I was concerned about how we would come out, but we played so well,” coach Rick Gore said. “We did not miss a beat and were able to score a lot of points. The guys did a great job with the week off and we certainly were ready to play.”
Hydro-Eakly was ahead 33-12 going into the second quarter. Nolan Gore scored 14 of those points in the first quarter.
The Bobcats were ahead 55-21 at halftime. Nolan Gore scored 18 points at halftime.
“We got off to a fast start,” Gore said. “Nolan played really well for us in the first half and was very pleased with how we played in the first half.”
Hydro-Eakly continued to play well in the second half. They were ahead 77-33
The Bobcats bench played in the fourth quarter and scored eight points in the last minute of the game. Parker Price buried a 3-pointer within the last seconds of the game and Hydro-Eakly won the game 88-46.
Carson Propps scored 31 points, which is a career high. Paxton Price scored with 21 points and Nolan Gore scored 20 points. Coach Gore said the bench also played really well.
“Ryder Klaassen had five rebounds and is turning into a good player,” Gore said. “He also can shoot really well and we are excited about what he is doing. The rest of the bench played better as well. We will need them as the season goes on and every time they do something great, it will help build confidence. We will need them to make a run in the playoffs and to hopefully get into the state tournament.”
Gore said the defense really was working hard and because of how great the defense was, it made the offense great too. They recorded 14 steals.
“We forced great turnovers and had a career high in steals,” Gore said. “Our defense played well and it generated into our offense.”
Hydro-Eakly improves to 8-0 and will play in the Tournament of Champions December 27-29. They will take on Tulsa Memorial 5:30 p.m. December 27.
“We are so excited about getting invited and representing Class A,” Gore said. “This is my second time going to this tournament in the past 20 years I have been at Hydro. Before accepting the invitation, I asked the four seniors if they wanted to go to this tournament and they said ‘Yes.’ It will be tough, but we will get better because of the tough competition. Tulsa Memorial is a really good team and is very athletic. They are unbeaten and ranked at the Top of Class 5A, just like we are in Class A.”