By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.–  St. Helens did all they could do to slow down the Stayton offense Friday night as they went as far as holding big man Garrett Callsen to five points in the game.  Holding the Eagles to 12 first quarter points as the Lions were down four going into the second quarter against one of 4A’s top teams.

But despite the 12-8 score after the first quarter, the Eagles found other ways to back their defense up with their offensive output.  Turning to Jace Aguilar and Gavin Berning to carry the load for the remainder of the game, a game that saw Stayton take 59-32 with the duo of Aguilar and Berning accounting for 40 of the squad’s points as Stayton improves to 3-0 on the year.

“Gavin has been doing it all year so far, so we know he’ll step up.  It was just a matter of time for me to step up along with other guys.  And once Garrett gets on, it’s just putting all the pieces together,” Aguilar said, who had 25 points in the victory.

Twas the second quarter when the Eagles put the pedal to the metal, using a 18-7 frame to lead 30-15 at the halftime intermission before putting duplicating it in the third quarter with a 17-7 frame to all but put the game out of reach of St. Helens.  The defense was there, offense was hitting their shots as the once 12-8 Stayton lead was now 47-22 going to the fourth quarter.

“We started capitalizing and executing.  Everyday we talk about toughness and execution.  They had Garrett down low and there was nothing he could do and we were able to put up numbers as a whole team from around him as a group,” Aguilar said.  “So it shows how deep we are and how good of a team we are that we are here to compete.”

The Eagles will have a week off before they host Scappoose going into the Cottage Grove Tournament on December 21.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald