Hard-nosed defense and solid shooting lifted the Pleasant Home Eagles to a 37-35 victory over the Highland Home Flying Squadron Tuesday night in Pleasant Home.

 

The Eagles soared out front to a 13-4 lead in the first period. Troy Fantroy made his presence felt early with 8 points in the period, including two big 3-pointers.

 

Fantroy, still feeling the hot hand in the second period, buried two more long 3-pointers, to help give the Eagles a 24-14 lead at halftime. Kirkland Gunter also had a clutch 3-pointer for the Eagles.

 

In the third, the Eagles’ offense hit a wall, and the Flying Squadron fought back to tie the game up by the end of the period, 28-28. Tanner Veasey made a nice basket down low for the Eagles, but it was one of only two shots the Eagles hit in the third.

 

The Eagles bounced back in the fourth to hold of the Flying Squadron 37-35. The Eagles used a 7-0 run over the final four minutes of the game to secure the victory.  Fantroy hit a mid-range jumper at the four-minute mark to give the Eagles a 32-30 advantage. The Eagles led the remainder of the game.

 

Fantroy led the Eagles with 20 points, and Alex Myrick added 7 points.

 

“We dominated the first half, but we are battling a mental thing now where these guys don’t think they can finish off games,” Eagles head coach Troy Turman said. “We have to believe that we can do well. I was proud of the way the defense finished the game out. It wasn’t the best game, but we did just enough to win. I’m proud of the finish though, and we need to start peaking heading into January.”