Eudora boys basketball takes a timeout to regroup. Harmon defeated Eudora 66-35 on Thursday, Dec. 12.

Eudora — What should have been a basketball game quickly turned into a track meet between Harmon and Eudora.

A fast and furious offensive approach from Harmon proved to be the difference as the Hawks defeated Eudora 66-35 in the 2019 Cardinal Invitational final Thursday.

“I mean, they’re disappointed, as they should be,” Eudora coach Kyle Deterding said. “(In the) first half I thought they played fine, we just didn’t make any shots. We got good shots, we just weren’t making any.”

Harmon got out to a quick start, jumping out to an early 8-3 lead before Eudora could catch a breath. Senior forward Mike Carson and senior guard Walzel Evans led the way for the Hawks, playing a tough in-and-out game that Eudora struggled to stop initially.

However, the Cardinals regained some life as junior forward Ty Abts scored 5 quick points — a corner 3 and a contested layup — to get Eudora back in the game. Harmon held a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Cardinals were still in it.

Once the second quarter started, though, it was all Harmon. The Hawks started out on a 6-0 run, eventually outscoring the Cardinals 15-4 in the quarter. Junior Justin Fawcett scored all 4 points for Eudora, with the Cardinals shooting 1-for-7 in the second quarter.

At halftime, Harmon led 27-14, led by junior forward Chauncey Keys, who scored 7 points in the quarter.

Eudora did score the first points in the second half thanks to a free throw from Abts, but the Harmon defense was still relentless. The Hawks forced three early steals, leading to two fast break layups and a dunk from junior guard Lonell Lane to stretch the lead to 40-21.

“We kind of let them into the lane in transition,” Deterding said. “In the second half, it was just a big snowball that got bigger and bigger. We were terrible.”

The third quarter is also when Evans took over for Harmon, shooting 5-of-9 from the floor in the quarter. He finished with 17 points, and the Hawks took a 52-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

In a game like this that gets out of hand quickly, Deterding said his job as a coach is to make sure his team “stays the course.”

“We can’t practice against guys like that,” Deterding said. “I told them to try to take advantage of trying to do things the way we want them done, because we don’t have an opportunity in practice. We can’t simulate that.”

From then on, it was all Harmon as the Hawks cruised to victory and the 2019 Cardinal Invitational championship.

Despite the lopsided outcome, the Cardinals did finish second in the tournament. Deterding hopes the team can shake this loss off and build on this game.

“We’re just going to have to get back to what we’re doing and get shots every time (down the floor),” Deterding said. “It’s hard to be in a ball game if you can’t get shots.”

Eudora next plays Tonganoxie at home on Dec. 19.

Eudora (35)

Ty Abts 3-7 1-2 8, Justin Fawcett 3-8 2-2, Brett Breedlove 3-9 0-0 6, Noah Watkins 2-4 1-1 5, Jacob Merkle 1-6 0-0 2, Brant Arnold 1-1 0-0 2, Jerratt Bradley 1-1 0-0 2, Sloan Hayden 1-1 0-0 2, Tucker Shackelford 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Monroe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-41 4-5 33

Harmon (66)

Walzel Evans 7-16 1-1 17, Lonell Lane 8-14 0-2 16, Chauncey Keys 5-10 0-0 12, Jason Rodriguez 3-9 1-2 8, Mike Carson 3-5 0-0 6, Lynell Lane 1-2 0-0 3, Terrance Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Trevaughn Heard 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-61 2-5 66.

Eudora 10 4 11 10 — 35

Harmon 12 15 25 14 — 66

3-point field goals: Eudora 1-7 (Abts); Harmon 6-21 (Rodriguez, Keys, Evans, Lane). Turnovers: Eudora 22, Harmon 7.