Going down with a fight: Eagles push top teams but fall hard in final game
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RONAN - It was not the way the Eagles wanted to end their season.
Two Eagle River sophomore guard Clayton Malatare high-fived his teammates on the bench and calmly walked to the locker room midway through the fourth quarter against Noxon Saturday evening. He knew that he and his teammates had given all they had to give at the District 14-C Tournament and had almost shocked everyone.
The Eagles played four games at the tournament and had little left in the gas tank when they got around to facing Noxon in the Consolation Final Saturday evening. Two Eagle opened the tournament with a 75-62 win over St. Regis Thursday evening and almost pulled off a huge upset Friday as they fell by two to the eventual district champion Arlee Warriors, 53-51. The Eagles bounced back with a 75-62 win over Hot Springs to stay alive in the tournament.
There was little the Eagles could do against Noxon in the Consolation Final Saturday evening as the Red Devils shot a blistering 72 percent from the field en route to a 79-39 rout. Two Eagle put up a fight early in the contest but seemed to tire as the evening continued and as the shots kept falling through for Noxon.
The Red Devils led 16-9 after one quarter of play and added another 20 points in the second frame to build a 36-17 halftime advantage. Two Eagle continued to struggle and Noxon never cooled off in the second half as the Red Devils outscored the Eagles 43-22 in the second half.
T.J. Cutfinger and Malatare led the Eagles with nine points each in the loss while Jordan Eichert and Travis Tammaro each scored 20 for Noxon.
The Eagles opened the tournament with a win Thursday as they took down the St. Regis Tigers, 61-38.
The winless Tigers looked surprising early, outscoring the Eagles 16-9 in the opening quarter.
The Eagles found their wings in the second quarter, using defense to help spark a 24-6 that put Two Eagle up 33-22 at the half.
Two Eagle owned the second half, outscoring the Tigers 28-16 to pick up the win.
Artie Mendoza led the Eagles with 16 points in the win while Malatare added 11. Marcus Brown recorded a double-double for the Eagles in the victory with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
A tremendous fourth-quarter comeback came up just short Friday evening as the Eagles fell to eventual district champion Arlee, 53-51.
Two Eagle held a 17-12 lead after eight minutes of play, but the Warriors used a 27-9 run over the next two quarters to take a 39-26 lead into the final frame. The Eagles did not go quietly, though. Two Eagle came storming back in the final period, using defense and hot shooting to erase the Warrior lead. It was not quite enough to get the win, though, as Arlee held on for the victory.
Mendoza led the Eagle effort with 14 points while Skyler Rossbach added 10.
The Eagles starters torched Hot Springs in a loser-out battle Saturday morning, scoring 73 of Two Eagle's 75 points in a 75-62 victory.
The Eagles shot a blazing 7-12 from beyond the three-point stripe in the contest, erasing a first-quarter deficit to get the win.
Two Eagle trailed 21-17 after eight minutes of play but a 23-16 run by the Eagles in the second frame put them up 40-37 at the half. The Eagles pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Savage Heat 35-25 over the final 16 minutes for the win.
Malatare finished the contest with a game-high 25 points to lead the Eagles while Brown added 14, Cutfinger had 13, Rossbach scored nine, Mendoza had eight and Trevor Butterfly added two.
The Eagles finish the season 10-12.
Consolation
Noxon 79, Two Eagle River 39
Noxon 16 20 24 19 - 79
Two Eagle 9 8 7 15 - 39
NOXON - Jordan Eichert 20, Travis Tammaro 20, Banks Stocking 15, Neal Jopling 15, Jesse Linderman 4, Tyrell Wilkinson 3, Brandon Piazzola 2.
TWO EAGLE RIVER - TJ Cutfinger 9, Clayton Malatare 9, Artie Mendoza 6, Skyler Rossbach 6, Marcus Brown 4, Trevor Butterfly 3, Wes Nowlen 2.
Totals fouls - Noxon 10, TER 11. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Noxon 19 (Eichert 4, Tammaro 4, Stocking 4), TER 19 (Brown 6).
Loser out
Two Eagle River 75, Hot Springs 62
Hot Springs 21 16 8 17 - 62
Two Eagle 17 23 11 24 - 75
HOT SPRINGS - Dave Cross 24, Cody Hoff 17, Zack Malinak 9, Connor Stobie 3, Trevor Bras 0, Wyatt Nagy 7, Mike Gray 2, Jarod White 0. Totals: 28-46 5-12 62.
TWO EAGLE RIVER - Clayton Malatare 25, Marcus Brown 18, TJ Cutfinger 13, Skyler Rossbach 9, Artie Mendoza 8, Trevor Butterfly 2, Drew Payne 0, Robbie Couture 0. Totals: 29-48 10-16 75.
3-point goals - Hot Springs 1-5, Two Eagle River 7-12. Totals fouls - Hot Springs 14, Two Eagle River 14. Fouled out - Hoff. Rebounds - Hot Springs 13 (Cross 5), Two Eagle River 21 (Brown 7). Assists - Hot Springs 8 (Hoff 2, Malinak 2, Bras 2), Two Eagle River 14 (Malatare 5).
Semifinal
Arlee 53, Two Eagle River 51
Two Eagle 17 4 5 25 – 51
Arlee 12 14 13 14 – 53
TWO EAGLE – Artie Mendoza 14, Skyler Rossbach 10, Clayton Malatare 9, Marcus Brown 7, Trevor Butterfly 6, TJ Cutfinger 5.
ARLEE – Jesse Pfau 18, Thomas McClure 12, Kasey Bridgewater 7, Harvey Sansavere 6, Trae Burland 6, Eneas Inmee 2, Beau Couture 2.
Two Eagle River 61, St. Regis 38
St. Regis 16 6 4 12 - 38
Two Eagle 9 24 13 15 - 61
ST. REGIS - Jarrod Tippens Jr. 17, Thomas Spencer 13, Brit Ramsey 3, Keenan Ewalt 2, Jon Langella 2, Spur Hill 1. Totals 16 6-15 38.
TWO EAGLE RIVER - Artie Mendoza 16, Clayton Malatare 11, Marcus Brown 10, Skyler Rossbach 9, T.J. Cutfinger 6, Trevor Butterfly 4, Wes Nowlen 3, Michael Brown 2. Totals 25 8-23 61.
3-point goals - St. Regis 0-1, Two Eagle 3-23 (individuals not available). Totals fouls - St. Regis 15, Two Eagle 19. Fouled out - Langella. Rebounds - St. Regis 24 (Tippens 8, Spencer 8), Two Eagle 28 (Ma. Brown 13).
