BETHALTO - As the regular season rapidly comes to a close, two Mississippi Valley Conference rivals battled head-to-head in a bragging rights game.
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The Civic Memorial High School boys' basketball team welcomed the Jersey Community High School Panthers back to their home court on Friday. Previously, the two squads met back in December at Jerseyville; that evening, the Eagles walked away with a 55-39 victory.
The Eagles were victorious yet again, closing out this rematch with a score of 47-32 over the Panthers. Throughout the course of the night, Jersey battled quite ferociously on defense; however, making those necessary shots was and has continuously been a thorn in the team's side this season.
"It's the story of our season," JCHS head coach Stote Reeder said. "The defense is good enough, but the offense can't keep up. I think CM earned everything they got and made some tough shots. We've had too many of those nights."
"That was the best defensive effort we have had in the past five years that I've been here," CM head coach Doug Carey said of Friday night's game, specifically the third quarter. "We really got after it."
Coach Carey commended Jaquan Adams for his consistent offensive prowess and athleticism throughout the course of the game.
"Jaquan takes that first step, and it's so long and quick that it's hard for anyone to guard," Carey said." Once he gets in there, he's agile enough and he can shoot it with both hands. He did a really good job in the second half."
Adams led the Eagles with 18 points for the night. David Lane followed ten points behind Adams with eight added while Caden Clark and Camryn Gerhardt scored seven points each. Jaxen Helmkamp brought in three and Brandon Hampton and Geoffrey Withers each locked in two points.
For the Panthers, Blake Wittman secured eight points; Jacob Ridenhour and A.J. Shaw each scored six while Lucas Ross, Matthew Jackson and Tucker Shalley contributed four points each.
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