By ROBERT L. LEE

RESERVE – Although they didn’t play at their usual fast pace, the Reserve Christian Eagles scored their 30th win Tuesday night by defeating the visiting Chalmette Owls 80-58. The Eagles have six losses on their record, while pushing the Owls to 11-10.

The Eagles started their last pre-district game slow and held their unusual pace through almost all 40 minutes.

“They came out flat,” admitted Eagles’ coach Tim Byrd. “But they handled their business.” Byrd said a team can’t be up and play their blistering pace every game, although when his team is no up and they take care of their business, he is happy.

“It was a sandwich game,” continued Byrd. “We are coming off one of our best games, a high intensity game with White Castle and about to start district.” The Eagles played their first district game last night against Mt. Hermon in Reserve.

Versus the Owls, the Eagles remained patient to put up points on the board, usually waiting to answer a Chalmette goal, then driving in a basket or two of their own. The Owls scored the first two points after two minutes of play. On the Eagles’ next possession, Matt Jackson grabbed his team’s rebound and jumped right back up for two points. Jackson’s shot got both teams scrambling across the court, but it was Marlon Brumfield who followed up with two points on the Eagles’ next possession. Brumfield continued leading the Eagles offensive attack, followed by Demond Carter, who scored his first two, helping put the Eagles up 12-2 after six minutes. The Owls did not score their second goal until there was one minute remaining, then closed the first quarter down 12-8.

Reserve Christian allowed eight points mid-way through the second quarter, but found more offensive consistency and stretched their lead 30-19, then to 37-23 at halftime. The Eagles’ defense forced Chalmette to shot from the outside almost every shot, allowing only about four Owl lay ups.

“We came out man, showed the press once, then went into zone defense. They (Owls) had trouble with that,” explained Byrd. “We didn’t want to give them any easy baskets.”

Byrd said his team played patient on offense and although they didn’t shot a lot of balls, they made a healthy percentage.

“In spurts our offense was good,” he added. “But there were no spurts where we ran up 15-0. We could have hustled a little better, but we did a good job limiting the other team’s points.”

The tempo picked up slightly during the second half, with the Owls attempting more shots and the Eagles responding with quick passing and twice the goals. Another Brumfield lay up brought the Eagles to 50 points, while Chalmette sputtered forward with five points to 28 halfway through the third quarter. After the next four minutes, the Owls handled the Eagles’ defense better and kept up with their scoring to end the quarter 59-35.

With the Owls finding ways to score points, twice as many in the fourth quarter as any other, the Eagles countered by playing their quickest of the evening. Although still not their usual speed, the Eagles stole the ball on almost every Chalmette transition. The Owls outscored Reserve Christian 23-21 in the fourth quarter, but the final buzzer sounded with the Eagles on top 80-58.

“I think it was when we substituted some players in the last minutes is when they got about 15 points. But I am pleased with what they did,” said Byrd. “Overall, the amount of people wasn’t there and the electricity wasn’t there tonight.”

Carter’s electricity came in the way of 23 points, while Dwayne Myers had 17, Brumfield had 16 and Jackson finished with 10 points.