Semoball

Second half surge lifts Oran over Risco

Oran's Cody W. Dirnberger is fouled by Risco's Kyle White as he goes up for a layup Tuesday night in Oran. Dirnberger finished with 14 points while White led the Risco Tigers with 17 points. (Josh Mills/Standard Democrat)

By Josh Mills ~ sd_sports@yahoo.com

ORAN -- The Oran Eagles basketball team was back in action at home on Tuesday night, as they downed the visiting Risco Tigers 84-66.

For the Eagles, it was another scoring outburst from Cody Romas, Kody Campbell and Cody W. Dirnberger that lifted Oran over the Tigers.

Romas finished with 26, Campbell with 21 and Dirnberger with 14. Romas also added two three-pointers and was 10-for-13 at the charity stripe

"Risco's a good team," Oran head coach Denver Stuckey said. "I was impressed from seeing them last year to this year."

Oran actually trailed by one at the break, thanks in part to Risco ball-handler Kyle White, who at halftime had 15 points.

"Their No. 00 (White) is a good player," Stuckey said. "He's quick, and he knows what he's doing out there.

"(But) we came on strong in the second half," he added. "And, I think we wore them down a little bit. ... It's always good to get a win."

The Eagles held White to just two points in the second half, and that proved to be the difference, as Oran went up 55-48 after three quarters, holding Risco to just nine points in the third.

Oran put up 17 points in the quarter, added 29 in the fourth to Risco's 18, and held on for the victory.

"The first half was the best basketball we've played in three games," Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship said. "We had a third-quarter letdown and only scored nine. We have to figure out how to play defense when we're not scoring.

"Our defense will have to do better," he added.

The Tigers' Kyle White, as previously stated, scored 17 points, leading the Risco squad, while Zack Williams piled on an additional 16.

Risco committed 31 fouls in the loss, 19 of them coming in the second half alone, while Oran was tagged with just 18 fouls. The Tigers were 11-for-15 at the line, while the Eagles amassed a total of 49 free throw attempts, making 31, good for 63 percent.

Risco will be back on the court Thursday night at Delta, while Oran heads up the road to Scott City on Friday night.

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