Boys basketball: Eagles top Rockets for district title in Stout's final game as head coach

Feb. 23—OSKALOOSA — Travis Stout has guided the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont boys basketball program to eight winning seasons, six South Central Conference championships and a district title back in 2018.

Guiding the Rockets all the way to the state basketball tournament, however, was just not in the cards.

In Stout's final season as boys head basketball coach, the Rockets won their final five conference games rallying to edge Clarke and Knoxville in a three-team race to the finish for the SCC title winning seven of their final nine games entering the postseason. EBF then pulled away from Mid-Prairie in the Class 2A, District 9 semifinals for a 73-61 win that extended their season and extended Stout's career by one more game.

Pella Christian, however, ended the hopes of the Rockets making one last run at qualifying for state on Tuesday. The Eagles never looked back after scoring the first eight points of the 2A, District 9 championship game, winning 67-41 to move within one win of advancing to state for the third consecutive year.

EBF, meanwhile, closes out a third consecutive winning season with a record of 17-6. Stout tenure as head boys basketball coach for the Rockets also comes to an end with a winning record of 184-130 over 14 seasons.

"I told the kids in the locker room that the standard has been set," Stout said. "For the younger players that are coming back, they've got to work their tails off to meet that standard. We've had guys that have been willing to put in that work to meet and raise the standard for the program."

The game was also the last one for six seniors on the EBF boys basketball team, a group that helped Stout produce two of his three 20-win seasons as head coach of the Rockets. Leading that group was Brooks Moore, who raised the standard for scoring at EBF finishing his prep basketball career with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Eagles surpassing Adam Fenton as the program's all-time career scoring lead by five points, finishing with 1,759 including 595 points scored alone this past season.

"I knew that time was ticking this season and it was going to have to be now or never," Moore said. "I'm happy with the way I performed. I could have done some things better, but if I could go over and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing."

Nothing EBF could do could overcome Pella Christian's hot start. While the Rockets missed their first five shots from the field, the Eagles came out on fire as Tysen De Vries splashed in a corner 3 to open the scoring before finding Dane Geetings in transition for the first of the senior guard's 10 assists as Pella Christian jumped out to an 8-0 lead.

Jack Bunnell finally put the Rockets on the board with a jumper in the paint. Caleb Van Arendonk countered with his second straight 3-pointer for the Eagles before a free throw by De Vries and a lay-up by Gettings off a steal by Isaiah Beems lifted Pella Christian to a 14-2 lead.

"I honestly think that things get easier for (Pella Christian) when they get into the postseason," Stout said. "Playing the teams they play in the Little Hawkeye Conference, it's much different facing them at that point than facing them at the start of the season.

"I felt like the game preparation, the planning and the practices were great for us. Our guys were feeling good about it. We've never played in an environment like this all season. I think that kind of shook their confidence early on."

Pella Christian extended their lead to 23-6 as DeVries found Bemis twice and Van Arendonk for a reverse late in the opening quarter. The Rockets struggled to keep up with the prolific attack of the Eagles as a 13-0 run to open the second quarter opened a 36-9 lead over EBF.

"I knew by halftime that is going to be a real dogfight for us to find our way back," Moore said. "I also knew the team wasn't just roll over. I knew for sure I wasn't going to. I was going to keep fighting until the end."

After closing out the first half driving down the baseline for a dunk, Moore scored inside for the first points of the second half as EBF cut Pella Christian's 29-point halftime lead down to 43-22. Two blocks and a hook shot by Karic Stout as well as a block, rebound and lay-up by Moore sparked a 9-2 start to the third quarter.

"We started breaking them down on defense a little better and started getting into transition," Moore said. "You just can't leave any doubt. Pella Christian's not going to give up easily. They're a good, quality team that will hopefully wind up at state."

Just as quickly as EBF cut into Pella Christian's lead, the Eagles expanded it once more. Gettings sank a 3-pointer before scoring a transition lay-up of his own as Pella Christian went on another 8-0 run to regain a 29-point advantage before stretching the lead out to 65-33 midway through the fourth quarter.

"The boys never quit. They were continuing to try and find ways to get back in the game," Travis Stout said. "It just seemed like, even when we made that run, it still felt like we were just swapping baskets. When you get that far behind, you need to get more defensive stops. We didn't get that done."

Gettings led Pella Christian with 22 points while Van Arendonk scored 16 points for the Eagles. De Vries narrowly missed out on a double-double, finishing with nine points to go along with 10 assists and six rebounds.

Pella Christian (18-5) will head to North Liberty on Saturday night to face Iowa City Regina (16-6) in the Class 2A, Substate 5 championship game. EBF will have new faces next season both on the court and on the sidelines after an emotional final night for Travis Stout as the program's head coach and Karic Stout, who like his father also took part in his final game for the Rocket boys basketball program blocking six shots against the Eagles.

"I'm just proud I got the chance to play for my dad. I'm proud of everything that he's accomplished," Karic Stout said while choking back tears on Tuesday. "He's accomplished a lot. He deserves a lot of credit. I'm proud I could help him achieve some of that success. I wouldn't want to do it for anyone else."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.