Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Reardan freshman Maveric Sobotta looks to attack the lane against Deer Park Nov. 30.
REARDAN-If one came into the Screaming Eagles' season opener against the Deer Park with no knowledge of WIAA alignments, they might have thought that the Reardan boys were the 1A school and the visiting Stags a 2B underdog. But it was the 2B Screaming Eagles routing 1A Deer Park in a non-conference game 70-41 Thursday, Nov. 30.
Reardan found the ultimate balance in its dominant victory, the first of head coach Jake Green's Screaming Eagle career. Green played 11 players regular minutes, and all 11 found the scoring column.
The Screaming Eagles came out firing and played swarming defense, while three freshmen handled the load offensively. Reardan led 16-3 after the first quarter, aided by seven points off the bench from Justin Vaughn.
"We want to get out and play hard and fast," Green said. "We want to play in transition. Game 1, we've had 14 practices and to be real, they're picking it up really fast. It's a good group of kids."
And Reardan didn't let up in the second quarter, extending its lead to 38-14 by halftime behind eight points from Fred Frolov and seven points from Vaughn and Maveric Sobotta.
Deer Park found offense in the third quarter, but by this point, Rysen Soliday had gotten hot. Soliday got up to 16 points by the end of the third quarter, while Sobotta neared a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
While many Screaming Eagles went relatively cold in the second half, it was Soliday that shook off a cold shooting first half of his own to score a game-high 23 points. Frolov finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Three of Green's regular players, including Vaughn, Frolov and Sobotta, started or played key minutes as freshmen.
"They came in and did their jobs. We talk about that every day," Green said. "Everybody has a job to do when they're out here...and we all know that it's not my shot, it's our shot. Whether it's a freshman making the shot or a senior, that's what it is."
The Screaming Eagles managed their effort without reigning first-team all-league forward Jakari Singleton, whose status for this season remains in question due to a shoulder injury.
"I think the ceiling is pretty high," Green said. "They work hard, they ask questions and they want to get better."
Reardan faces two tests this weekend. The Screaming Eagles are at Kettle Falls Friday, Dec. 8 before hosting St. George's at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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