The Porters Chapel Eagles trailed against Rebul Academy up until the fourth quarter Thursday night, where they outscored the Raiders 18-6 and won the game 57-48.

PCA’s Patrick Minor finished with a team-high 18 points, seven rebounds, six steals and an assist. Minor was able to grab five of his seven rebounds on the offensive end.

“I’m proud of the boys and how they fought back to get into the game,” said Stacey Sykes, who earned his first victory as PCA’s head coach. “They fought hard.”

In the first half, the Eagles (1-1) didn’t play good half court or transition defense, letting the Raiders score on easy fast break opportunities to take a 28-21 lead. Sykes told his team during intermission to pick up the intensity and put pressure on the Rebul’s players initiating the fast breaks.

To spark the comeback, Sykes subbed in Jake Arias and Kyle Leonard in the third quarter. That brought hustle into the game and got the crowd back into it. The Eagles’ defense went into a half-court press, which forced turnovers and generated 16 steals.

In the fourth quarter, PCA eliminated turnovers and played hard defense that led to fast break points. The Eagles also went 8-for-16 from the foul line.

 

[G] Rebul 27, PCA 21

The Lady Eagles were able to stay within three points of Rebul up until the last five minutes of the game, however, Rebul came away victorious.

Gracie Felker scored 12 points for PCA (0-5), to go along with 15 rebounds.

The game for the Lady Eagles was lost in the paint as the they missed 32 shots between the blocks. Still, the outcome was better than their first meeting this season, which Rebul won 43-14.

“We couldn’t make our layups in the paint,” PCA coach Amanda Yocum said. “It was kind of the same thing two weeks ago when we went to their place.”

Caitlyn Adkins and Aleaha Griffin scored 23 of Rebul’s 27 points.

The Lady Eagles had 11 turnovers, but it was a better effort than their last game. They had 27 in a loss to Hartfield Academy on Tuesday night. The team as a whole was able to do a better job of getting the ball inside the paint to Felker, as well.

On the positive side, the team is starting to play a better, more complete game.

“Everybody on the floor was an eighth-, ninth- or 10th grader,” Yocum said. “We’re moving in the right direction I feel like.”