Eagles boys basketball opens new year with close defeat

The Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles boys basketball team opened the new year with a Section 3AA and Central Minnesota Conference road match-up versus the Paynesville Bulldogs on Friday, Jan. 3. Trailing 29-24 at halftime, the Eagles couldn’t make up the difference in the second half and fell by a 62-56 margin.

For the game, the Eagles shot 29% from the floor, compared to 38% for the Bulldogs.

Leading the way for the Eagles, Wyatt Moehrle posted a double-double performance of 22 points and 16 rebounds. Caleb Derose hit double figures as well with 12 points. Lee Dziengel chipped in 7 points and 11 rebounds to also pace the Eagles.

The Bulldogs’ Sam Brunner hurt the Eagles with a double-double performance of 24 points and 14 rebounds. Carter Flanders posted 15 points, and Reed Johnson also posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Bulldogs.

With this loss to the current top team in the conference, the Eagles fell to 2-6 on the season.

Next action: The Eagles head to Maple Lake on Thursday, Jan. 9, and return home to host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Tuesday, Jan. 14.