LITCHFIELD - Having only scored 70-plus points once this season, the Eagles proved that they can score, and that's exactly what they've done so far at the Rick McGraw Memorial Tournament.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
After an 80-60 win over Hillsboro on Monday, CM followed that up with a 74-63 win against the hosting Litchfield Panthers Tuesday night.
CM head coach Lee Green wasn't sure how to feel about those score lines.
"Me and my assistant were just talking, we're probably leading the tournament in scoring, but I'm sure we're leading in giving up points too with 123," he said.
"But if you're going to play the style that we're playing where we're up and down, taking quick shots, we're going to give up some points too," Green continued. "The kids love playing in this system. They get a lot of shots up, it's run-and-gun, and it's exciting basketball for the fans."
It looked like the Eagles were going to have another strong night from three-point land after scoring 9 of 25 against Hillsboro the night before.
Adam Ogden opened the game with a three against Litchfield, followed by Josh Hodge's basket and another trey from Ogden. Just like that, CM was off and running with an early 8-0 lead.
It didn't stun Litchfield, who answered back with a seven-point run and two threes of their own from Ethan Saathoff and AJ Odle to make it 8-7. The Panthers later only trailed 12-11 before the Eagles pulled away again.
CM wouldn't give up its lead for the entirety of the game, leading by marks of 18-14 after the first quarter and 28-20 at halftime.
The Eagles scored all three of their triples in the first half and would not get another, finishing the night 3 of 17. But they made up for it in the paint.
"We weren't really knocking threes down, but we penetrated," Green said. "[Litchfield] was in its zone [defense] and we got it inside, played inside-out, drove to the basket, and got a lot of second-chance points.
"We did a great job on the offensive rebounds," Green continued. "Credit to our bigs and even our guards; Adam [Ogden] had 11 rebounds."
Ogden had a career night, finishing with a double-double. To go along with his 11 boards he scored a personal best 34 points. He beat his own record from last year's Litchfield tournament where he put up 31 points and seven rebounds against Taylorville in an 83-78 win.
"He likes this gym," Green said with a grin about Ogden.
August Frankford also finished with a second straight double-double scoring 16 points and bringing in 11 rebounds against Litchfield. The night before against Hillsboro he had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
"He's been really playing well lately," Green said. "Frankford, he gives us a great inside look. When he's making those post moves and getting it to his left shoulder there, he scores and he's tough. He's really steeped his game up over the past six weeks."
11 of Frankford's 16 points came in the second half, finishing the night 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
CM held tough, outscoring the Panthers 46-43 in the second half and making key free throws down the stretch to ensure the win.
The Eagles led from buzzer to buzzer, and coach Green was proud of that against a quality Litchfield team.
"That's what we talked about. [Litchfield] is a good team," he said. "They were 14-7 coming in and had only lost one game on their floor all year."
Litchfield had only previously lost to Highland at home back on Dec. 12 by a score of 64-50.
"But, our kids were jacked up coming out of the locker room," Green continued. "They're ready to play in this tournament. Coming off the win against Jerseyville, we just continued that."
CM had nine points from Riley Lamb and DJ Dutton added eight against Litchfield. Dutton had a career-high 24 points with eight threes the night before.
Victor McGill led the Panthers with 23 points and Odle scored 10.
They fall to 14-8 on the season and will play Roxana in a consolation semifinal on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
CM moves on to play Marquette, who beat Pana (55-32) and Roxana (50-30) in pool play.
"It'll be fun and it will be a great challenge for us, Green said. "They're really, really good and the No. 2 seed for a reason."
That game is set for Friday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
More like this:
