Boyd-Buchanan's Eli Evans drains a three in front of his teammates Tuesday night in their win over Silverdale.
photo by Greg Davick
It’s no secret that Eli Evans is one of the best overall athletes to ever play sports at Boyd-Buchanan.
He’s a playmaker on both sides in football and he’s the leading scorer in basketball. Baseball may be his best sport as he’s the leadoff hitter and plays shortstop when he’s not pitching.
He was honored at Tom Jett Gymnasium on Tuesday night before Boyd-Buchanan’s home game with district foe Silverdale after scoring his 1,000th career point in a recent game.
The pre-game recognition must have fired him up as he scored his team’s first 13 points, 16 of 20 in the first quarter and finished with a season-high 28.
He was basically a difference maker as the Buccaneers improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in district play with the 63-46 victory over the Seahawks.
“I’ve struggled with my shot in these early games, but I hit my first couple tonight and my confidence started growing. My teammates did a nice job of getting the ball to me, but it’s a nice honor to be recognized for scoring 1,000 points,” the slender 6-3 senior said afterward.
“I really love baseball, but I also enjoy playing football and basketball. I’m looking forward to baseball, but I’m not ready for basketball season to end,” he said, admitting that he plans to attend UTC next fall where “I’ll just be a student” with intentions on majoring in sports management.
The Bucs were whistled for a technical foul for dunking during pre-game warmups. Sam Bambrey sank those two free throws before the game began.
That was Silverdale’s only lead as Evans had the hot hand and the Buccaneers never looked back.
The difference was 20-7 after one quarter and 29-18 at halftime.
The Bucs opened the second half with an 8-0 run for a 37-18 lead.
The Seahawks kept battling and Owen Neal sank back-to-back 3s late in the third quarter to get the Seahawks within 15 at 41-26 with 2:17 left.
Neal had four straight points midway through the final stanza as Silverdale got within 13 at 58-45, but never any closer as the Bucs held on for the win.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Josh Templeton was pleased for the most part and he was especially happy with the hot start his leading scorer had.
“It was nice to see Eli catch fire tonight. He lays it on the line every time we play, but tonight was a coming out party for him. He knows how to put the ball in the basket,” Templeton began.
“We still have a lot of fine tuning to do and we need to learn how to foul less, but we believe that defense will win and getting stops on that end means a lot to our guys. I’m always pleased with our effort and I think we’re getting better offensively, but that’s always the goal in December,” the coach concluded.
It’s been a tough week for Silverdale coach Slater Belew, who’s been in bed sick most of the week, missed two recent practices and probably shouldn’t have been present on Tuesday.
“I feel a little rough, but I’ll make it,” he said in his post-game interview.
“We started off bad as the Evans kid really lit it up. We found our rhythm as the game went on and played much better after the first quarter. We could have given up early, but we just kept battling. We have yet to put together four solid quarters of basketball and we can’t afford to give up so many open looks,” he continued.
Jordan Sanders is surely one of Silverdale’s best players, but he wasn’t a factor on Tuesday as he got in foul trouble early and didn’t have much impact on the game. He finished with five points and five rebounds, but his lack of production hurt his team’s chance of winning.
“Jordan is our best rebounder and at times our leading scorer, so his getting in foul trouble hurt, but he wasn’t the reason we lost this game. We build our defense around him and he changes a lot of shots even when he doesn’t block them,” Belew concluded.
Evans was the leader for both teams with 28 points. Ian Johnson and Will Emrey followed with seven points apiece while Karson Gay finished with six.
Neal was Silverdale’s leading scorer with 15 points while Sam Bambrey was next with 13.
Boyd-Buchanan had an unofficial 38-26 edge in rebounding. Emrey snagged 11 and Johnson nine for the winners while Neal and Sam Bambrey both had six for Silverdale. Sanders and Ben Bambrey both had five.
Silverdale is now 6-5 overall and 1-3 in district play.
SILVERDALE GIRLS 62, BOYD-BUCHANAN 34: The Lady Seahawks led from the start, but a 34-10 difference in the second and third quarters put the game out of reach for the Lady Bucs.
Laney Bone had 22 points for Silverdale while teammates Marlee Montgomery and Vielsie Johnson were also in double figures with 10 each.
Dani Reeves was tops for the Lady Bucs with 11 points while Macy Balthrop finished with 10.
GIRLS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 11 17 17 17 -- 62
BOYD-BUCHANAN 4 7 3 20 -- 34
SILVERDALE (62) – Jarrell 2, Gibson, Lamb 3, Hoover 5, Stiner 3, Vugler 1, Bone 22, Renegar 5, Gibson, Montgomery 10, Johnson 10, Cole, Bolton.
BOYD-BUCHANAN (34) – Stone, Robertson 5, Winston 1, Baxter, Pope, Massey 4, Balthrop 10, Reeves 11, Garner 3, Henderson.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 5 (Montgomery 2, Johnson 3); Boyd-Buchanan 1 (Reeves).
BOYS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 7 11 12 16 -- 46
BOYD-BUCHANAN 20 9 18 16 -- 63
SILVERDALE (46) – Sanders 5, Delashmitt, Mullins 2, B. Bambrey 6, Drake 5, Neal 15, S. Bambrey 13.
BOYD-BUCHANAN (63) – Evans 28, Edmondson 5, Oliver 3, Lopez 4, I. Johnson 7, C. Johnson 3, Emrey 7, Gay 6.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 4 (Drake, Neal 3); Boyd-Buchanan 7 (Evans 6, Edmondson).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)