After back-to-back MVP finishes in 2021 and 2022, Tyler Heffren must have felt he had something to prove after his performance yesterday seemed…less than we’d come to expect from him. In Game 10 vs the Lewistown Indians, Heffren led the Eureka Hornets to a comfortable win. He finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds on 11-for-20 from the floor and 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Both teams started cold, however. After the first quarter, the score was just 9-7 in favor of Eureka and featured three lead changes. Then the Hornets came alive in the second frame, where they scored 22 points and led 31-15 headed into halftime. Points in the paint was the big story here. Eureka not only won that battle by a count of 42-10, but it also contributed to their higher field goal percentage.
As mentioned, Eureka was led by Tyler Heffren in both points (30) and rebounds (17). Zeke Mason was second on the team in scoring and rebounds with six and six, respectively. Cooper Peterson swatted away a game-high four steals. The Hornets buzzed away with the fast break points, 16-0. They also forced 15 turnovers and turned those into 15 points.
Lewistown’s leading scorer and rebounder was Aidan Reed, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Finding themselves down big at the half, the Indians settled for a lot of high-risk shots in the second half and their stats suffered as a result. They shot 14.3% field goals in the second half. Lewistown’s bench was a bright spot, as they contributed 10 of their 25 points.
Eureka (5-7) advances deeper into the consolation bracket, where they will meet with Canton in Game 17. That game will be held at Brophy Hall (across the street from Western Hall) on Saturday morning at 9:00am. Lewistown (2-12) has been eliminated.
Box Score
Eureka Info
Lewistown Info
Chris Derry
December 29, 2023