BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

There are some college teams that don’t play as tough of a schedule as Reserve Christian has.

Taking part in the Nike Academy National Invitational Tournament last week that featured two nationally-ranked teams, the Eagles went 1-2. Coming home and on nearly no rest, Reserve concluded their week with a victory over Holy Cross.

19-10 and 4-0 in district play heading into their game last night against Central Catholic, Eagles head coach Tim Byrd said his team is ready for the stretch run.

“We clearly have the toughest schedule in the state if not the country,” Byrd said. “There are not that many teams in the country that have played as many ranked teams as we have played.

“Before the season I thought we could have as many as 15 losses heading into the playoffs because we were so young. Right now I will be surprised if that occurs. We’ve seen it all and now my kids aren’t young anymore.”

RCA 74

Holy Cross 58

Coming off such a grueling grind at the Nike Tournament and on very little rest, RCA defeated Holy Cross 74-58.

Demond Carter led the Eagles with 24 points. Justin Porter and Kevin Branch both added 14 in the victory.

“We were on one day’s rest and worn out,” Byrd said. “We played hard. It was a character win because they found something in their tank that they really didn’t have. I was pleased with the effort that they gave.”

RCA 56

#4 Arlington Country-Day, Fla. 59

A desperation three-pointer at the buzzer fell short in the final game of the Nike Tournament for the Eagles as they fell to Arlington Country-Day, Fla. 59-56.

Carter led Reserve with 24 points and Branch added 11 in the defeat.

RCA 49

Southern Lab 45

Against a familiar opponent, Reserve gave up a lead late in the game but in overtime pulled away to defeat Southern Lab of Baton Rouge 49-45.

Carter led the Eagles with 21 and Branch had 11. Porter had a monstrous day defensively, blocking seven shots in the first quarter.

“We held them scoreless in the first quarter 14-0,” Byrd said. “In the second half they came storming back and tied the game up in regulation, but we won in overtime.”

RCA 52

#11 DeMathia Catholic 76

Going up against high school legend Morgan Wooten’s old school, the Eagles fell to #11 Demathia 76-52.

Carter led Reserve with 23 points and Branch added 12.

“It was a six-minute game until four minutes left in the final period,” Byrd said. “Once we fell behind 12 we had to go full-court press and ended up fouling them a lot.

“We battled hard and I was really proud of the effort. They just had too many athletes and were better than us.”