No miracle on this night: Eugene
breezes past New Bloomfield

Eugene senior Tre Kempker (left) sticks the follow through as he swishes home a 3-point during the first half of Tuesday night's district game with New Bloomfield at New Bloomfield.

Chris Leuckel

After recent brutal stretch, Jays finish with flurry to knock off Mules

Loeffler's Link

Senior-driven Hornets

eyeing back-to-back

trips to Class 1 Final 4

Feb. 25, 2020

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. --- 'Tis the season for sports miracles ... as in, we just celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.

That was the athletic equivalent of your aunt beating LeBron in a game of one-on-one.

Kinda.

Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!

On a slightly smaller scale, when New Bloomfield took the court against the Eugene Eagles on Tuesday night, one had to wonder. Were we about to witness the Miracle on Wood?

No.

The Eagles used a staggering 26-0 scoring edge in the second quarter to build a 39-point halftime lead as they breezed past the Wildcats 83-23 in the opening round of the Class 2 District 8 Tournament on Tuesday night.

Believe it or not, this was an improvement for the Wildcats, losing by 60 to the Eagles. In the first meeting earlier this month, the margin was 65.

These games are not easy to play, for either team.

"Our practice was the same, our routine was the same, because one bad game and you're done (for the season)," Eagles coach Craig Engelbrecht said. "There's no room for error, we just want to keep playing the way we have.

"We know what we're supposed to do, we know how we can play."

There was little doubt what would happen, and any lingering thought of David taking down Goliath quickly vanished.

The Eagles (17-6), the No. 1 seed, bolted to a 9-1 lead in the opening minutes and never looked back. The Wildcats (3-19), the 8 seed, were still within 19-6 after the first quarter, however, thanks to a late 3-pointer by Easton Ambler.

But that would be that, as Eugene pitched a shutout in the second quarter to open up a 45-6 bulge at the break.

"We told our guys in practice (Monday)," Engelbrecht said, "that there's two ways a team can go that's had a tough year like they've had. They can go out guns a blazing or if you get out early on them ... we just wanted to try and get this thing over with, get some guys in the game, and keep the guys healthy for Thursday night."

Engelbrecht called off the team's full-court press with about three minutes left in the first half. You never want to run up the score on a team that's down, but at the same time, you have to get your players playing time and work on what you do.

"That is a fine line," said Engelbrecht, 58, who's in his 30th season at Eugene and is approaching 600 wins for his overall career.

"I still enjoy it," he said. Engelbrecht then smiled and paused before adding. "Most nights."

Eugene senior Tre Kempker (18 ppg. average) scored 12 points, and seemed to have almost as many assists, with most of those going to fellow senior Colin Wunderlich.

"They're buddies and they have a good bond together," Engelbrecht said. "They've been playing together forever and they know where each other's going to be.

"Tre has to score for us to be good, but he'd rather get the assist. That's just his make up."

Kyle Bond, a slender 6-6 junior, tallied 14 points to lead the Eagles, who will meet Harrisburg in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday. Harrisburg advanced with an 80-76 win over Calvary Lutheran.

In other first-round games, No. 2 seed New Haven rolled over Russellville, 72-42, and No. 3 Linn defeated Belle 75-51.