Huntsville Stays Perfect

— The Huntsville Eagles kept on with their winning ways on Saturday night, but it wasn't easy.

The Eagles defeated the Cedarville Pirates 55-49 at Dee Lee Gymnasium in the finals of the Greenland Invitational to give them a perfect 6-0 record on the season.

Huntsville jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter of with stifling defense and good shooting, leaving the Pirates scrambling for answers.

Blake Evans and Colby Faulkner came out of the gate shooting well as they both knocked down a 3-pointer, and Huntsville's defense prevented the Pirates from getting anything going on offense.

After Evan Fincher hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just inside the half court line that brought the Pirates to within 5 at halftime, Cedarville charged back after a sluggish start behind the play of big man Garrett Parson and guard Evan Fincher. Fincher was a spark plug for the Pirates, finishing with 11 points. Parson finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds in the game and was the impetus behind the Pirates late run to reclaim the lead at 43-41.

“That was the first time that this team has seen adversity and it was good to see us fight back,” Cedarville coach Andrew Tencleve said. “Parson does a good job for us and the thing is we don't always have to throw it down to him, he can go and get it off the glass.”

After surrendering the lead late in the game, the Eagles woke up and came charging back behind the play of Ricky Scott and Peyton Green. Scott scored six points in the fourth quarter and Green score five points all from the free-throw line as the Pirates were forced to foul late in the game. Scott was the physical presence down low for Huntsville that changed the game for the Eagles. Scott finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks and was too much to handle for the Pirates.

“Ricky is a really good player that has improved a lot from last season,” Huntsville coach Jim Stafford said. “He is the presence in the post and is a lot to handle defensively.”

It wasn't just a one-man show for the Eagles however, with Scott bringing most of the attention of the Pirates in the post, Hutsville's shooters were able to benefit from the lack of attention. Swingman Colby Faulkner benefited most for the Eagles as he led both teams with 18 points and proved to be a mismatch for the Pirates. Faulkner also added 4 rebounds and 4 steals to his stats and came up with points when the Eagles needed them the most.

“Faulkner has played good this whole week,” Stafford said. “He is only an 11th-grader, but he started every game for us last year and continues to improve.”

Huntsville 55 Cedarville 49

Huntsville 13 13 13 16 — 55

Cedarville 5 16 13 15 — 49

Huntsville (6-0): Faulkner 18, Scott 17, Green 6, Clark 6, Frick 5, Evans 3.

Cedarville: Parson 14, E.Fincher 11, Z. Myers 6, A. Myers 6, Bradford 5, C. Fincher 4, Mowery 3.

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