Eagle Men Ready for Conference After Tough Preseason

The Eagle men's basketball team played many very good teams during the pre-season, and they were usually close but a little short at the end. Now they're preparing to start conference play with a 5-12 record, which is actually third-best among GVC teams.

With a strength of schedule that was among the toughest in the state, the Eagles' 12 losses were all against teams with winning records. Nine of those losses were to teams ranked in the state's top 28.

The teams that beat the Eagles had a combined win-loss record of 140-43 as of January 7th, including the likes of 7th ranked San Francisco (12-4), 9th ranked San Jose (13-3), 10th ranked Yuba (13-2), 15th ranked Columbia (12-2), 17th ranked Sacramento (14-1), 18th ranked Allan Hancock (12-4), 19th ranked Las Positas (13-3), 24th ranked Skyline (13-3), and 27th ranked Monterey Peninsula (11-5).

Siskiyous had the toughest non-conference schedule of any GVC team based on RPI percentages posted at https://cccmbca.org/sports/ncrpi.

Going into the conference season, no GVC teams are ranked in the state's top 30 and only defending champion Redwoods (10-8) has a winning record. Butte is next best at 9-9 after winning its last four in a row.

Feather River and Lassen are both 5-13. Shasta, the team the Eagles will open GVC play against on Wednesday night in Redding, is 1-17 and has lost 14 in a row.

The Eagles started the season 4-5 but went 1-7 in December, including a 69-61 loss to Skyline, 70-61 loss to Monterey Peninsula, an 80-75 loss to Allan Hancock, and a 77-70 loss to San Jose. In their last November game, the Eagles took Las Positas to double overtime before losing 78-71.

There were a couple blowouts along the way, but mostly they've been within two or three possessions of the lead even though they haven't been shooting great from three-point range (30% as a team), have a poor assist to turnover ratio of 11.2 to 16.5, have been giving up too many second chance points, and haven't gotten much scoring from their rotation players.

But head coach Kyle Heath points to the positives, including a "wide open" conference race. During a 79-69 loss to Redwoods in mid-November, the Eagles led 36-30 at the half but couldn't hold off a Corsairs team that hit 14 threes.

"We can get better," Heath said. "This is a good group of guys; they don't quit. They still listen and respond when I challenge them. They have a 3.2 team GPA, and they're out in the community. They're working hard and doing what I ask. It's a tight group.

Four returning sophomores, guards Dylan Neufeld and Landon Ellis and forwards Cole Bernius and Nick Dore have started every game along with freshman guard Tanner Jolley.

Neufeld is averaging 16.6 points per game, which ranks third among GVC players, while Ellis is fifth at 15.5. Ellis also ranks sixth in field goal percentage in the GVC at 47.1.

Bernius ranks second in field goal percentage (56.7) and fifth in rebounds per game (6.1).

Dore ranks 3rd in rebounds per game (7.9) and 10th in field goal percentage (45.5).

Dore is averaging 11.3 points per game, Bernius 11.2, Jolley 3.8, and returning sophomore Cameron Collard 3.2.

Another freshman, 6-foot-9 center Bryce Rollins, showed some of his potential when he scored 10 points in the game against Allan Hancock December 15 at the Percy Carr Classic tournament in San Jose.

The Eagles expected to have another returning sophomore in the lineup, but guard Josh Allen initially hurt his knee in practice prior to the start of the season then, when he was ready to return, suffered a hamstring injury. He returned home to Australia and is expected to play for the Eagles next year, Heath said.

In preparation for the conference season, Heath wants the team to "think pass first, pass early, and create open shots."

He thinks every team in the GVC can beat every other team, and the Eagles will be on a mission to win their five home games, steal two or three more wins on the road, and find a narrow path into the postseason.

Home games, you say? The Eagles only had one of those in the preseason, a 93-81 win over Umpqua on November 20. They'll have three home games in January, starting with Butte on the 17th at 7 p.m. and Lassen on the 20th at 3 p.m.

By Steve Gerace