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Eudora’s Lincoln Votaw gets his shot blocked during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
A stretch of eight minutes without a made shot from the field doomed the Eudora Cardinals in a 64-46 home loss to the Atchison Phoenix Thursday night.
“We have too much skill and talent to be playing the way we are playing right now,” second-year Eudora head coach Tyler Cleveland said.
Cleveland added that his squad is being too passive offensively, ultimately settling for low percentage looks that he called “one-pass shots.”
“We watch one or two people dribble and we’re just settling for a shot,” he said, “and that’s a recipe for not scoring points.”
Eudora (0-2) kept it close early as sophomore guard Cash Schneider’s 15-foot stepback jumper evened the score at 7 with five minutes remaining in the opening frame. Sophomore point guard Sy Thomas’ knifing layup put the Cardinals on top 14-12 late in the first quarter.
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Eudora’s Cash Schneider goes up for a layup during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
Eudora struggled to contain center Yogi Purdy as the 6-foot-4 center did major damage on the offensive glass, dropping in 12 points and corralling six rebounds in the first half. Purdy’s relentless effort in the low post sparked a 9-1 run to stretch Atchison’s lead to 26-18. Eudora was held scoreless from the field over the final five-plus minutes of the second quarter and trailed 30-20 at the half.
Kael Williams opened the second half with a 3-pointer that keyed an 8-0 Phoenix run. From there, Eudora was unable to slow backcourt duo Josiah Thompson and Trey’Von Gillum in transition, and also had no answers for Atchison’s crisp ball movement, leading to high percentage field goal attempts in the half-court set.
Conversely, the Cardinals missed a number of point-blank shots around the rim as their offensive struggles continued well into the third quarter. Atchison’s lead ballooned to 40-20 near the midpoint of the frame, as Purdy bulldozed his way to the bucket for an easy layup.
Eudora finally snapped its scoring drought via Keelyn Duncan’s driving layup. He was also fouled on the play, but was off-target on the free throw attempt.
Trailing by 22 entering the fourth, Eudora found a bit of offensive footing after opening the quarter on an 8-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 48-32. During the run, Thomas and Schneider did most of the heavy lifting.
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Eudora’s Ryan Osburn goes up for a contested layup attempt during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
Schneider, a high-flying 6-foot-3 sophomore, continued to be a bright spot offensively for the Cardinals. Despite the all-out effort, the Eudora was unable to pull any closer en route to the 18-point loss.
Schneider cashed in a team-high 14 points. Thomas added 11 points and two steals, while Ryan Osburn finished with 10 points — knocking down 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Purdy concluded with a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds as Atchison moves to 4-0.
Eudora returns to the court next week for Rock Creek’s 1st Annual Flurry on Flush Basketball Tournament. Slated to play a total of three games, the Cardinals open play with a matchup against Goodland Dec. 18.
“I’m hoping we can come together as a team, because that’s the main issue right now,” Cleveland said. “We have some potential, it’s just a matter of if they can trust each other long enough while they’re on the floor to figure it out.
“They need to run the plays we call instead of just doing their own thing.”
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Eudora’s Brett Picker blocks a shot during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Eudora’s Jay Noble and Landon Adler Rooney show a strong reaction to a call during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
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Eudora’s Sy Thomas dribbles up the court during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Eudora’s Ryan Osburn receives coaching from head coach Tyler Cleveland during a boys basketball game against Atchison on Dec. 11 at Eudora High School.
