Eagle Men in Rare GVC Air

After an 84-65 home win over Feather River Saturday, the Eagle men's basketball team is tied for first place midway through the 2024 Golden Valley Conference schedule.

That's rare air for a Siskiyous men's team and a first for head coach Kyle Heath, who has been on the job since 2010. This is also the first season Heath has had a team start conference play 3-0, 3-1 or 4-1, and it follows a 5-12 preseason during which they played many of the top teams in the North Region.

"Credit goes to our guys," Heath said. "It's been a long process to figure it out. They've turned the page since the break. I'm enjoying this group. They go to class, there's been no problems, they're good ball players, they practice hard every day."

The Eagles are 3-0 at home in the GVC (4-0 at home overall), and so far they're following what Heath has long seen as the recipe for success in conference: "win your home games and steal two or three on the road."

With three games on the road and two at home, the second half will be challenging. All the GVC teams except Shasta still have a shot at the title. The Eagles and Feather River are both 4-1, Redwoods 3-2, Butte and Lassen 2-3, Shasta 0-5 (and 1-22 overall).

The Eagles gave Feather River its only GVC loss so far using just seven players: sophomores Dylan Neufeld, Landon Ellis, Cole Bernius, Nick Dore, and Cameron Collord, and freshmen Tanner Jolley and Matthew McEwen.

After a 3-0 GVC start, the Eagles lost against Redwoods in Eureka three nights earlier, and Feather River came to Weed undefeated in conference.

"It was a huge game," said Heath. "If we lose, they're 4-0, and we would be two back. The team was able to respond after losing to Redwoods. I'm really happy for my guys."

The Eagles led 38-22 at half time, built the lead to 20 points early in the second half, and never led by less than 11 after that.

"We followed our game plan against Feather River, which was to sit in a zone and make them shoot threes," Heath said. Feather River shot 32 threes but only made 5.

Guards Ellis and Neufeld got where they wanted and got their shots. Ellis scored 26 points on 8 for 11 shooting from the field, Neufeld scored 21, Bernius 14, Jolley 10, McEwen 9, and Dore 5.

Heath's stats sheet showed the high-energy Eagles allowed only 2 points off their 11 turnovers, while scoring 25 points off 26 Feather River turnovers. The Eagles shot 53 percent from the field and had a 15-point advantage in the paint.

Jolley and Bernius had 7 rebounds each; Ellis had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals; Neufeld had 5 assists and 2 steals; Dore had 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals; and Jolley had 3 steals.

McEwen, a 6-foot guard from Yreka who came to the Eagles after redshirting at Shasta last year, had 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and no turnovers in 24 minutes.

Despite the 19-point margin of victory, all was not well: Feather River had a 45-29 rebounding advantage, including 19 offensive boards, and the Eagles were 18 for 28 (64.3 percent) from the free throw line.

The Eagles lost at Redwoods 93-73 on January 24 as the Corsairs made 19 of their 46 three-point attempts and shot 51 percent from the field (32 for 63).

Heath said Redwoods' returning conference MVP Trey Neff only made two shots in the second half and finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds. But Kai Purcell made 6 of his 8 three-point attempts and scored 22 points, while Ty Neff came off the bench to score 22 points on 6 of 15 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Eagles, who don't normally shoot many threes, made just three at Redwoods and were 26 for 63 overall (41.3 percent). They turned the ball over 18 times but had a 38-27 rebound advantage.

Trailing by 7 points with 3:30 to play, things went downhill from there. "We couldn't stop them," Heath said.

Neufeld scored 17 points, Bernius 15, Dore 13, Ellis 12, Jolley and McEwen 7 each, and Alex Padilla 2. Bernius had 5 offensive rebounds and 8 total, Dore had 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Neufeld, Jolley and McEwen had 5 rebounds each. Dylan and Ellis led the team with 4 assists each.

Heath sees the Eagles' tough preseason schedule paying off and a tough second half ahead. They'll be on the road more often than not, starting Saturday at Butte and finishing at Lassen February 14 and at Feather River February 21.

In between, they'll host Redwoods on a Thursday night, February 8, then host Shasta at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 10, which will include two celebrations: Sophomore Day and the naming of their home court in honor of Hall of Fame coach Tom Powers.

Among the many second half tasks he sees, Heath said, "We have to beat Redwoods; they're the three-time defending champs. They could still finish 8-2, and if we lose to them again, they'd have the head-to-head advantage."

But first, it's Saturday's road game against Butte, whose three GVC losses have all been tight: 83-80 at Redwoods, 76-74 at Siskiyous, and 57-54 at home against Feather River.

By Steve Gerace