Eagles rally to beat ol’ pal Braves
- Updated: January 16, 2019
2018 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
GRANITE HILLS 55, EL CAJON VALLEY 48
EastCountySports.com staff report
EL CAJON – The Granite Hills Eagles kept pace in the early going of the wild Grossmont Valley League by rallying to defeat visiting El Cajon Valley, 55-48, on Tuesday night.
The Eagles (7-11, 2-1 Grossmont Valley League) are now currently in a four-way tie for first place in the league, along with El Capitan, Santana
El Cajon Valley (8-10, 1-2) looked extremely sharp in the first half to build a 28-22 lead heading into the locker room.
“We struggled to match their intensity in the first half,” Granite Hills head coach DAN DUFFY said. “They’re a very good – and well-coached – team.”
Granite Hills’ MCKAY ROBERTS led a 17-2 run in the second half and finished with 26 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
“McKay brought all types of energy and put on a show, especially in the second half,” El Cajon Valley star DAEVION ROGERS said. “But he had a lot more help in the second half. They went on a run which ultimately sealed the game.
“It was just too hard to come back even though we got it down to one point, the momentum just wasn’t there for us.”
Rogers finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds,
The Eagles’ JOHN VRSICH was injured in the third quarter and had to leave the game, however, teammate JOHN YAKOU stepped up and finished with a career-high 10 rebounds.
HUNTER PIKE added 11 points for Granite Hills
Rogers and Roberts have played together at the recreation center in El Cajon for three years, making each Madison Avenue matchup special for the guys.
They’ll face each other as varsity players one last time on Jan. 29 at the Braves’ gym.
That contest comes just past the halfway point of the midseason.
“We are going to need to learn to play with intensity for the whole game if we’re going to continue to improve,” Duffy said.
