Cruiser Men’s Basketball Season Comes To An End

Heading into their final week of play in the 2019-2020 season, the Eatonville Cruisers welcomed in the Onalaska Loggers for a non-league match up that would conclude with the Cruisers coming away with a 51-44 victory.

After trailing for most of the first half, The Loggers would erase their 4-point halftime deficit by going on a 6-0 run to start the 3rd quarter to take the lead.

The Cruisers would answer back to retake the lead. The two teams would then go back and forth swapping leads for most of the second half.

Shay Brannon would be a factor for the Cruisers in the second half scoring 9 of his team high 12 points. Kyle Cox would also be a factor, scoring 6 of his 11 points in the second half as well.

The Cruisers would shoot 11-14 from the free throw line in the game which was something they have seemed to struggle with all year. That was a key to helping the team to pick up the win.

Scoring: S. Brannon 12, K. Cox 11, R. McIlraith 8, Z. Smith 8, K. Foster 5, C. Hatler 4, A. Brymer 2, J. Knoblauch 1

The Cruisers would then welcome in the Fife Trojans on Tuesday.

The Cruisers would lead 27-26 at the half, but Jeremy Knoblauch’s team high 16 points wouldn’t be enough for the Cruisers as the Trojan defense clamped down in the second half and rolled to a 58-43 victory.

Scoring: J. Knoblauch 16, K. Cox 7, R. McIlraith 6, Z. Smith 5, K. Foster 5, C. Hatler 4

The Cruisers would finish off the week and their season by hosting the Washington Patriots on Senior Night.

Prior to the game, the coaches, parents, and fans would recognize 6 Cruiser seniors who would be playing their last game for the Cruisers.

Zach Smith, Alex Brymer, Chris Van Cour, Jeremy Knoblauch, Kaden Foster, and Tyrese McElyea would be those players who would be playing their last game for the Cruisers.

Eatonville would jump out to take the lead 14-10 after the first quarter of play, however the Patriots would battle back to take the lead 29-25 at halftime and would go on to outscore the Cruisers 44-29 in the second half to take the victory 73-54 over the Cruisers.

Scoring: J. Knoblauch 13, K. Foster 11, Z. Smith 10, C. Van Cour 8, S. Brannon 5, R. McIlraith 5, K. Cox 2

The Cruisers finish the season 4-16. They will be a very young team next year with only

one current varsity player being a senior next year. With a year under their belt, the two freshman (Kyle Cox in the post and Shay Brannon at guard) look to give the Cruisers a real shot at post season contention next season.