Grain Valley Boys beat Platte County

by Bill Althaus
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Moments after he was honored for joining the Grain Valley High School 1,000-point club, junior guard Eli Herbert scored 34 points in three quarters of the Eagles 85-52 victory over visiting Platte County.

Herbert scored nine in the first quarter, seven in the second, 16 in the third - including three 3-pointers - and two free throws on the first, and his only offensive series, in the fourth quarter.

"When Eli's shooting like he did tonight," said senior guard Aaron Barr, who finished with 21 points Tuesday night, "he's unstoppable. I'm just happy that we could give him some help offensively. He's been providing most of our offense this season and tonight, he got some help."

It was the first game this season that coach Andy Herbert's Eagles had two players with more than 20 points.

"Aaron is capable of having a big offensive game like he did tonight, and we got a lot of help inside with Kevin (Johnson, 10 points) and Sam (Pendergrass, 7 points) totaling 17 points and grabbing a lot of rebounds.

"And Eli continues to shoot the ball well. When the game got out of hand, we pulled our starters at the beginning of the fourth period."

Eli was a big fan of that move.

"The guys on the bench work as hard as we do, and there are some games they don't get the chance to play," said Herbert, who is averaging 23 points per game, which is second in metro area.

"It was so cool to see Sam score seven points in the first quarter and then Kevin scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter."

The 6-5 Eagles dominated the Panthers from the opening tip, taking a 20-11 lead after one quarter and 42-27 lead into the half.

A 26-point third quarter saw the Eagles soar into the fourth quarter with a 68-43 advantage.

"We have the talent to score like this against anyone we face," Coach Herbert said. "But we need to have everyone contribute, like the guys did tonight."