One of the keys to pulling off a big upset in high school basketball is jumping out to a quick start. Friday, playing against the No. 1 team in the region, didn't do that. Walton jumped out to a 26-10 first quarter lead en route to a 85-63 win over the Eagles. It was Etowah's final game of the regular season.
Eagle coach Don Hurlburt thinks some of his guys may have been looking toward next week's region tournament.
"We wanted to come out and play hard and work on some things," Hurlburt said. "But I think we had some kids looking past this one because it was us playing Walton at Walton."
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Although Hurlburt wasn't pleased with his team's effort, Walton coach Joe Goydish thought his team played one of its best all-around games of February. "We want to be playing our best basketball, and actually this was our best game in about a week and a half," Goydish said. "We really got after them in the first quarter defensively."
Walton's Lanerryl Ester-Johnson, who missed the team's last four games with an undisclosed injury, came out on fire in the first half. Johnson drilled three 3-pointers while putting up 20 points in the game's first two quarters. He finished his night with 22. Johnson was one of three Raiders to reach double digits. Chevalen Pearson scored 19 for Walton, while Karl Cochran added 12.
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Etowah also had three players reach double digits. Austin Miramonti led the Eagles in the scoring department with 18 points, Reid Olsen added 14 while junior Damola Awe chipped in 10.
Etowah's season is potentially down to one game, and that game will be played on Wednesday at home–all rounds of both the boys and girls Region 5-AAAAA tournaments will be played at Etowah. The Eagles will play Wednesday against an opponent to be determined this weekend.
Girls: Walton 67, Etowah 53
You can't blame the Etowah Lady Eagles if they never want to see Walton again. In 12 region games this season, the Lady Eagles were only handed two losses. Both came at the hands of the Lady Raiders, including Friday's 67-53 setback. Etowah had no answer for Walton's Sarah Durdaller, who scored 22 points in the first half on her way to 31.
Lady Eagle coach Robert Westbrook was brutally honest in the postgame assessment of his team.
"I don't make excuses," Westbrook said. "Walton outplayed us in every phase of the game. They deserve to win."
The biggest problem for Etowah was trying to stop Durdaller. The Walton senior exploded for 16 first-quarter points as the Lady Raiders shot out to a 26-11 lead. If you take the backbreaking first period out, the two teams were almost dead even for the final three quarters.
In the third quarter, Etowah managed to cut the 15-point lead down to eight, but they would get no closer.
Stephanie Huffman led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 13 points while teammates Christian Langston and Lindsey Irvine managed to score eight apiece.
Durdaller wasn't the only star for Walton (13-10, 6-5); Rachael Gibson also had a solid night for the Lady Raiders, scoring 17 points.
Etowah (20-4, 10-2) will be back in action next Thursday in the region tournament semifinals. The opponent for that game will not be known until Tuesday night. Westbroook didn't seem overly interested in playing the Lady Raiders again. "They're in the bracket above us now," Westbrook said. "So we'll see what happens."
