by RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

It didn’t take long for Reserve Christian to get into the swing of things this postseason – in fact, it hardly took a quarter.

The Eagles kicked off their Class C state championship defense with a 39-point first quarter at home on Friday night, and had 75 points at halftime. Reserve was never threatened, and secured a 116-51 win over Starkey Academy in the bi-district round of the state playoffs.

The win allows Reserve (35-9), the No. 2 seed in Class C, to advance to the regional round, where it hosted No. 15 Singer on Tuesday night. Singer defeated Northside Christian in the opening round.

Reserve point guard Eddren McCain had the night off, but his teammates picked up the slack. Cedric Jenkins scored 27 points. Chris Roussell scored 22. Kyle McClue and Lucas Martin each scored 20, and Matt Cali added 10.

“We had good balance,” said Reserve Coach Timmy Byrd. “I was pleased with how we moved the ball, and I thought we did a good job spreading it around.”

Ronnie Knight led Starkey (6-17) with 34 points.

Reserve led 39-16 after a quarter, and held Starkey to five in the second to effectively slam the door.

In McCain’s absence, McClue ran the point guard position with success, just as he did at times in Reserve’s victory in the state championship game last season.

“Eddren got in foul trouble in the title game last year, and Kyle did a good job running the point. To get the win in the fashion we did gives the kids some more confidence for a situation like that.”