In a key area matchup for both teams, Sunshine pulled away from Ellwood Christian in the second half Tuesday for an 87-51 win.

The No. 2 ranked Tigers found themselves in a tight game in the first half, but pressure defense and fastbreak scores broke the game open in the third quarter.

“When we make a mistake, it’s almost like that mistake is magnified,” Ellwood Christian coach Darrell Walker said. “It almost multiples it. If you make one mistake, it’s almost like they are going to get five points after it because they are so athletic and so long.”

Ellwood (5-10) trailed 23-20 after the first quarter but the lead had swelled to 49-36 at halftime. Keonta Edwards and Walter Jones Jr. were a big reason why. Edwards scored 21 points and Jones had 28, but both players scored a large chunk of their points in the first half.

“I told the guys what it was going to take to come in here and get a win, and we withstood a little bit of early adversity,” Sunshine coach Walter Jones Sr. said. “They were hyped at home, but once we got past that and got to basketball, I knew we would be fine.”

The third quarter is when it really got away from Ellwood. The Eagles scored only nine points in the third quarter, and Sunshine kept the pedal to the floor. The Tigers raced for 27 points in the quarter, while Ellwood totaled only 11 in the final half.

“In the first and second quarter, we played our brand of basketball,” Walker said. “Then after halftime, they started making those runs and pushing the ball where we weren’t running our half court sets.”

Sunshine’s win allowed the Tigers to keep pace with Keith in class 1A, area 5.  The Bears lead the standings with a 5-0 record after Monday’s win over Akron, but still have to play at Sunshine Jan. 22.

Jalen Furlow led the Eagles with 13 points, with eight of those in the first quarter. C.J. Grimes added 11 more for Ellwood.

 

Sunshine 66, Ellwood 10 (Girls)

The learning experience continued for the Ellwood Christian Lady Eagles Tuesday night in a 66-10 loss to Sunshine.

Ellwood (0-15) was held to just one point in the first quarter and didn’t make a field goal until the Eagles banked in a three-pointer with 2:35 left in the first half.

The Lady Eagles are a team full of young players and it showed. Sunshine took advantage of second chance opportunities and Ellwood turnovers to pull away.

“Every day is a learning experience, and we are taking it one day at a time,” Ellwood coach James Murphy said. “You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

Sunshine led 26-1 after the first quarter and 43-4 at halftime.

The lead grew to 55-7 after three quarters.

Shakeria White scored seven points to lead Ellwood.