By Tyler Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Year in and year out, Hartville head coach Brett Reed’s Eagles are one tough team to navigate when formulating a game plan.
Just ask Marshfield head coach Adam Carpenter, whose Blue Jays were routed by the fourth-seeded Eagles Thursday in Blue Division opening-round action at Hammons Student Center, 56-28.
The Eagles entered the tilt as the No. 2 team in Class 2, and the victory pushed the Eagles to a staggering 9-0 record to commence the 2019-20 regular season.
Brady Ward led all scorers with his 16-point performance.
The Eagles stormed out of the locker room loose and confident, and it showed from the opening tip, as Hartville stormed the glass on both ends, forced four first-quarter turnovers and used timely, precision passing and shooting to complement the defensive attack.
Ward said the primary asset with which the team operates is simple: chemistry.
“We are just a group of boys who have been playing together a long time,” Ward said.
And it’s those sustained friendships that have catapulted the team to elite-contender status throughout Class 2 as well as the state.
“We have played together since we could walk,” Ward said. “We just mix so well, we trust one another and we get out on the floor and run. Being together for that long really helps with the chemistry. We play together.”
The Eagles stormed their way to the 15-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and allowed eight points total throughout the first two quarters of play.
Down 36-8 at halftime, some would toss in the towel, but the Blue Jays had other plans.
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After all, a 24-point deficit can be a bit daunting for some.
The Jays resided on the opposite end of the spectrum throughout the third quarter, as constant movement in and out of the lane opened some new real estate.
Marshfield tallied 16 points in the third quarter as Drew Cromer and Peyton McBride found their rhythm.
But Ward and company — after some early timeouts — were able to tighten their belts: as Holton Simmons, Ward, and Cody Mahan ran out the transition buckets en route to the win.
For Ward and his counterparts, the bonds formed off the court has translated into success on the hardwood.
Something he said he wouldn’t change.
Said Ward: “It definitely builds our trust with one another. Over the summer, we go over to each others’ houses. We are just the best of friends. When you are playing with your best friends, you trust your best friends.”
The Eagles — after advancing to the Class 2 sectionals last season and the state quarterfinals two years ago — embrace the target that resides on their backs.
“It is definitely an honor, I think, being able to represent what those guys did before us,” Ward said. “I think it is an honor to put on the Hartville jersey. Not everyone gets to do it.”
For Reed, who guided his Eagles to a tournament championship earlier in the month at the Clever Invitational, likes where his team is as they prepare for Branson for round two action Friday.
“Our kids played hard but struggled with too many turnovers (4) in the first half,” Reed said, “but we got some long rebounds; got some deflections where we made some easy baskets. I think we are on pace, but there is a lot of room for improvement. That is a good thing, to be 9-0 and still feel like there is room for improvement.”
Reed and his Eagles take the court at 11 a.m. Friday against Branson at JQH Arena.
Scoring for Hartville: Ward (16), Branstetter (11), Piper (9), Simmons (6), Mahan (7), Cook (4), and O’Dell (3).
Cromer led the Jays with nine points.
