The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Eagles varsity basketball team played against the Nova High School Titans on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at MSD. After losing their previous game, the Eagles came into the matchup with a 5-6, while the Titans won their previous game and held a record of 3-8. They beat the Titans 59-52.
The game began in favor for the Eagles as they took an early 10-2 lead through the first half of the quarter. Guard Brady Kuebler (1) was a big part of the scoring as he had a handful of field goals and free throws during the early stages.
The remainder of the quarter still favored the Eagles as both guard Jack Servaites (5) and forward Zack Story (20) made a pair of free throws, and small forward Ayden Mclean (3) made a layup to extend the Eagles lead. Despite Nova finding some rhythm in their offense, the Eagles held a 16-7 lead after the first.
Following a rough first quarter, Nova seemed to be an entirely new team in the second. With a handful of free throws and long field goals, the Titans opened up the second quarter on a 24-0 scoring run. After the run, the Eagles made two shots, including a buzzer beater by guard Ethan Schwartzman (21) to shrink the Titans lead to 31-20.
Unlike the first half, the third quarter began in a back and forth battle as each team followed the other with a basket. When Servaites made a free throw to open up the half, Nova responded right back with a three. Just seconds later when Kuebler made a shot and Mclean made two, the Titans scored three times as well. The Titans then led 38-29.
“We started off okay after being down at half but after some adjustments and a gut check we got more upbeat and scored more,” Head Coach Shaune Cannon said.
In the final minutes of the third, the Eagles continued to score and created more stops on Nova. With Servaites having seven points in this stretch and Schwartzman knocking down a pair of free throws, the Eagles trailed the Titans 46-40, entering the final eight minutes of the game.
“We just picked up our intensity on defense and started sending them left, creating big time plays,” Mclean said.
The fourth and final quarter was all Eagles as they tied up the game at 47-47 in just minutes after a three by Servaites. Following the shot, both Keubler and guard Derek Scheidt (2) gave the Eagles their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter. With the clock winding down and the Eagles making their free throws, MSD came back from behind and defeated the Titans in a final score of 59-52.
“[We made] a bunch of free throws at the end of the game as we were closing it out,” Mclean said. “We worked as a team until the end even though we were down by a lot in the first half.”
The Eagles will play their next game at home on Jan. 15 against Westminster Christian School.
