The Golden Eagles are now one week into their 2020 campaign and currently stand at 2-0 after matchups against South and Southeast. When asked about the team’s recent hot streak, Alex Littlejohn stated, “We play as a group. We play with a lot of energy and we trust each other to make plays and we have a group of very talented seniors that are experienced.”

The Golden Eagles have looked both dominant and resilient to me after the first week, with the team’s first matchup of the season coming against the South Titans, which resulted in a 38-point blowout. But just four days later, the Golden Eagles found themselves in a highly contested and close matchup against the Southeast Golden Buffaloes, in which they were able to come out on top after some late game heroics from senior guard Will Biby. What these two outcomes show me is that this team can win in more than just one way. They can go out and put up an astounding 67 points and win the game by nearly 40 points, or they can go out and win by three points in a tough, grind it out style of game. It’s all the same to this team.

Game Recaps:

12/4: Win vs South, 67>29:

    The Golden Eagles first matchup of the season came against the South Titans. The Golden Eagles, led by Head Coach Mike Domnick, got off the ground fast, ending the first quarter up 17. The Golden Eagles would then continue to grow their lead with the deficit at the third quarter growing all the way to 33. It’s clear that the Golden Eagles were able to suck the life out of the Titans early on in the night; this is clear when you take into account that South failed to put up more than 10 points in a given quarter. While in contrast, the highest quarter number for the Golden Eagles was the 27 point first quarter explosion, in which they took the aforementioned big lead.

It’s clear from a spectator’s point of view that the Golden Eagles had a set game plan laid out by Coach Domnick  prior to the night that the team went out and executed at a high level. When asked about the game, Carter stated, “I think our first game was a good start to our year. We came out ready to rock and play. We had been waiting for this moment for quite some time now, and to go out there and play there wasn’t a better feeling for us.” Carter continued. “Gotta give South credit, good team, they fought hard. We just applied pressure with our press and played our defense. That led to points off turnovers and lots of layups. Defense ended up turning into a lot of offense that night verse South.”

The leading scorer on the night for the Golden Eagles was unsurprisingly senior forward Alex Littlejohn who ended the night with 20 points, while going an astounding 80% from the field. The second leading scorer was Carter Reid with 16 total points, along with going 47% from the field. Enrique wasn’t far behind these two with a point total of 15. All together the senior trio shot 59% as a collective unit.

12/8: win vs Southeast, 49>46:

In sharp contrast to the team’s blowout win against South, the team’s ensuing matchup against the Golden Buffaloes was a closely contested, competitive matchup. Neither of these teams gave the other an inch, with both team’s point totals being nearly identical throughout the course of the night.

The biggest play of the game without question came from senior guard Will Biby, as with just five minutes remaining on the clock, Will caught a pass from Alex Littlejohn and banked in a buzzer beater from downtown, effectively icing the game for the squad. When asked to describe the play, Alex stated, “The play we had set up was originally supposed to go to Preston Rottinghaus for a inside iso, but when I caught the ball I saw that he was covered pretty good and I didn’t want to force something so I hit Will and he shot a pretty good shot even though he was really contested and it went in. When we saw it go in, the whole team was excited about the win, especially in a close game that came down to the wire.” Will Biby exclaimed, “When the ball came my way, I thought that I have to shoot it because I didn’t want the clock to run out if I tried to make a move. It would be better to get a shot off than to not get one off at all. When I sunk the shot, I didn’t see it go in, so I couldn’t believe it. When I released the ball, it didn’t feel like it would go in when it left my hands. But when I saw everyone’s reaction, I knew it went in.”

When asked to describe the game, Carter stated, “We played terrible Tuesday night. All of us did, it wasn’t just one person. So when Will hit that shot it was an exciting moment we all went crazy, but it was a sense of relief for us too. Southeast played a hell of a game, hats off to them. Luckily Will banked in that three and that’s all she wrote.”

Adrian’s Thoughts:

The Golden Eagles were able to pull off a pair of big time wins to start off their season. The next step for this team is without question to continue this hot streak deep into the regular season and, guessing off of the outcomes and scenarios of their last two matchups, I see the Golden Eagles doing just that. This team looks like a force to be reckoned with, as well as one of, if not the best team in 5A Kansas basketball.

Over the next seven days, the Golden Eagles are gonna have their last two games before the long Christmas break, coming against Haysville campus and East. Both of these teams currently stand at 1-1 after their first week and are aware of the challenges that this Golden Eagle team presents. While I do expect the Golden Eagles to take care of business in both of these games, this team led by Coach Domnick is gonna need to come into these two games knowing that they are gonna see the best that these teams have to offer.

Golden Eagle Quotes:

Alex Littlejohn on the main key to his early season success:

    “I think the main reason for my success is my teammates finding me when I’m open and me just finishing the play and scoring. We are an unselfish team and I’ve just been on the right end of the passes.”

Littlejohn on the key to this team’s hot start:

    “We play as a group, we play with a lot of energy and we trust each other to make plays and we have a group of very talented seniors that are experienced.”

Enrique Lankford on what the next step is and how they are looking to continue the run:

           “We just take it one game at a time. Now it’s Campus and on Tuesday it is east. We focus on team and then the next. If we don’t like the outcome, we fix it in practice and come out better the next game.”

Lankford on what Dom’s main message has been over the course of the past week:

           “Defense and rebounding. We have to collectively as a team step up and do those things. It can’t just be a couple people.”