Bunker Eagle coach Rod Gorman was a twenty-six-year-old coach at Festus during his one-year stint. After leading the Bourbon Warhawks to three consecutive district titles in the late 1980’s, the Licking native was off to Festus. His one year, 1990-1991, produced the schools only state championship.
On Friday night in front of a packed house at the Festus High School gymnasium, the team was awarded their championship rings. The Tigers defeated the Nevada Tigers, 77-63, for the state title in March of 1991.
“It was great seeing these guys after all of these years,” Gorman said, after the ceremony. “We had a great season, so many wonderful moments.”
The players and coaches were introduced by Festus athletic director Mr. Jason Therrell between the junior varsity and varsity contest. The Tigers defeated the Eagles 53-16 in the junior varsity contest.
More memories were created during the special event for these wonderful gentlemen.
The Bunker Eagles winning streak moved to 20 as they stayed unbeaten with a 55-50, hard fought win in Festus, Friday night.
The Class 1 Eagles defeated their fourth Class 4 / Class 5 opponent (St. James, Sumner-East St. Louis, Mountain Grove, and the new addition to the list, Festus.) The Tigers are a member of the Jefferson County Athletic Association with the likes of: Hillsboro, Windsor, De Soto, Perryville, Herculaneum, Crystal City, Grandview, St. Vincent and Jefferson.
Coach Gorman and his Eagles will play St. Vincent, another member of the JCAA on Valentine’s Day.
The battle tested, well prepared Eagles were led by junior Brennen Meloy’s 23, who went over 1,500 points for his career during the game. Also scoring for the number one ranked Reynolds County squad were as follows: Brayden Radford, 12, Owen Sanders, 7, Chetan Calzado, 6, Payden Lanham, 5 and Jayton Skaggs, 2. Lanham did an outstanding job replacing Skaggs who suffered an ankle injury in the 1st stanza.
“We played hard, we were challenged by a good team tonight. The guys stayed focused, we ran our sets well. We did a great job on our in-bounds plays,” Gorman commented after the victory.
Assistant Coach Blake Mathis added, “We had a great week of practice getting ready for Festus. We knew we would be pushed and challenged. Our guys did a great job coming away with the big win.”
Congratulations to the Eagles as they stay perfect!
Upcoming games for the Eagles:
Feb. 6 – St. Pius – Festus – 7 p.m.
Feb. 9 – Liberty – Mountain View – 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 – Bunker, Peoples Community Bank Shootout, vs St. Vincent – TBA
Girls returning to action: Lady Eagles, 15-1
Feb. 3 – Bismarck – 5 p.m.
Feb. 4 - @ St. James – 5 p.m.
Feb. 5 – Licking – 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 – Liberty – Mountain View – 5 p.m.
