Eagle Basketball’s Crunch Time Comeback

Our Granite Hills Eagles take down the El Cajon Valley Braves in a come-back winning fashion, with a final score of 55-48 on January 15, 2019.

To begin the game, the Braves start by winning the jump ball and quickly converting into two small buckets, but not long for Hunter Pike (19) to nail a three pointer to maintain a close game. Within the first quarter, the Braves had controlled the game with their tight defense, which lead to multiple fast break layups. Successful drives from McKay Roberts (20) had kept Granite Hills within a four point losing deficit, and a score of 12-16, by the end of the quarter.

Starting the second quarter, El Cajon Valley continues attacking the basket. The aggressiveness from the Braves had then given them a larger lead. As shots weren’t falling for the eagles, a block from John Vrzich (20) gets them going and leads to two knock down three pointers from McKay Roberts and John Yakou (20). A small run by the Eagles was not enough to match El Cajon Valley as the first half concludes with a 22-28 Braves lead.

As the third period begins, the Eagles had come out the locker room with pure motivation. Shots were falling and the tough defense they had brought had given Granite Hills much more scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, on an early offensive possession, small forward John Vrzich, had sustained a sprained ankle. As the Eagles watched a teammate go down, it had brought more fire to the players’ game. Shot after shot, Granite Hills’ comeback had sparked. In substitution for Vrzich, multiple drives from Justus McComb (21) had intensified the lead even more. Going on to a 17-2 scoring run, and an Eagles lead of 39-30 by the end of the third.

As the buzzer sounded, initiating the final, fourth quarter of play, both teams were determined to win. The first three minutes was a scoring run of 8-0 by El Cajon Valley. As time dwindled down and the lead grew shorter, a timeout was called. After the quick timeout it was back to battle. A one point lead was on the line, and a three pointer from McKay Roberts had the crowd going crazy. Few possessions later, Roberts’ crazy ankle breaker on the Braves’ defender had all Granite fans on their feet cheering the Eagles on. With thirty seconds to go with McKay Roberts at the line, his free throws had sealed the game. The final score was 55-48 from a great team effort and a crazy comeback victory.