Reserve romps to victory

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 4, 2009

By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Reserve Christian officially kicked off its Class C state championship defense on Friday night, ripping visiting Monticello 118-28.

The win vaulted the No. 1 seeded Eagles into the regional round, where it was scheduled to face No. 16 Starks last night.

RCS center Ricardo Gathers led all scorers with 28 points in a little under a half of play.

His high success was no accident, says Eagles coach Timmy Byrd, who wanted to see Gathers involved after he missed various portions of the season with injury.

“We were focused on that,” said Byrd. “I think we were abler to accomplish that. He hit a 3-pointer, and some mid-range jumpers. Hopefully, he’ll be on track for our next game.”

Reserve (40-7) led Monticello (0-18) 34-6 after the first quarter and 64-14 at halftime.

Byrd was able to empty his bench, which allowed 13 different Eagles to score in the game.

Besides Gathers, four other Eagles scored in double figures. Chris Roussell scored 16. Kyle McClue scored 12. Derek Taylor scored 11, and Kalen Jenkins added 10.

After a loss to Country Day last week to close the regular season, Byrd was disappointed in his team’s effort and hustle.

On Friday, his team’s energy level wasn’t a problem.

“I thought we put forth a pretty good effort,” Byrd said. “We were able to get everyone involved, so we could take that from it.”