Eagles make sudden comeback, Feb. 23

The Eagles headed into playoffs with a 14 seed. FC, with a record of 5-21 was not expected to upset the No. 3 seed. Throughout the entire season they have played difficult teams that are from division, 2, 3, and 4. The plan for the exhausting schedule was to help down the road in playoffs. In the first away playoff game the Eagles scored a total of 78 points versus Tranquillity, Feb 23.

The team started off slow and the game looked like it was over before it started, as they fell down to a quick 7-0. Tranquillity played with great chemistry in the first quarter of the game. Their leading scorers, Noel Inguez and Ray Ayla started off the game hot. Inguez hit a quick three and killed the Eagles spirit, Jonathan Guzman also helped the Tigers to a quick lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Eagles were down 24-12; desperately trying to find and see what would work.

Head coach Jon Penberthy believed the Eagles played great once they got the nerves out of the way. The Eagles play better when they give an extra pass instead of shoot a selfish shot and have faith in their teammates.

“We played 28 minutes of good basketball,” Penberthy said. “There might of been some pre-game jitters. Then we started to hit our stride and play good team basketball for the last three quarters. The keys to the game were to trust our teammates and make the extra pass to get a teammate a good open shot. In the fourth quarter we had five or six different guys score and we rebounded fairly well down the stretch.”

[fusion_soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/248689117″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

In the second quarter the Tigers got themselves in foul trouble and the Eagles capitalized. FC started to play as one unit and clawed their way back into the game. FC’s normal game plan is to shoot three pointers and get the rebound. This game they went away from shooting in the first half and drove to the basket. At the end of halftime, the Eagles were in a good position and only down 38-29.

In the the third quarter the Eagles scored a quick eight points, the momentum changed once Nick LeBlanc, ’17, hit the first three pointer. Daniel Walker, ’17, helped shut the gap against the opposing Tigers. In the third quarter the game was neck and neck, but LeBlanc kept making shots and kept the Eagles in the game. Leblanc ended the with 16 points and played the best game of the season.

“It felt great to knock some shots down,” LeBlanc said. “It gave us some confidence and momentum. I think that we came our fast and kept the tempo high throughout the second half. We put the pressure on them to respond to our play and they were unable to match our tempo.”

Matthew Tanaka, ’17, a student and fan saw the game from a different perspective up in the stands. He believes LeBlanc was a catalyst for the game and the Eagles played with great chemistry.

“During the first half the Eagles didn’t look like they had a lot of energy,” Tanaka said. “But in the second half they came out on fire and with energy. The difference was definitely in the third quarter, once shooting guard Nick LeBlanc caught fire it made the whole team play defense and rebound and play as one team.”

The Eagles play against the No. 6 team, Liberty Madera-ranchos,. Liberty has a record of 13-16 and won their first playoff game versus Mendota, 72-49. Come out and support the Eagles in the quarter-final game, Feb.25.

For more sports, read World of Sports: College basketball heats up for March Madness.