In a rematch that was more exciting than “watching a longed-tailed cat in a rocking chair factory,” the Bunker Eagles fell to the Class 3 Mountain View – Liberty Eagles 59-58 on Senior Night at Bunker High School.
The Eagles defeated Liberty on Dec. 30 66-53 in the championship game of the Cabool Holiday Tournament. Owen Sanders’ jump shot at the buzzer hit the front part of the rim, bounced up briefly, then downward falling short. The 21 game winning streak came to end as the Eagles record goes to 21-1 with five regular season games remaining (state playoffs will follow.)
Brennen Meloy’s fourth quarter blitz, scoring 35 in the contest, 17 in the period, leading the Eagles in one of the most exciting high school games ever played.
The Mountain View crew entered the game with an outstanding 18-2 record. The other loss was Dec. 19 to state ranked, traditional powerhouse Class 2 Hartville, 67-45.
The Eagles led by 10, 31-21 at the break. Liberty outscored the Bunker, 37-26 in the second half. Junior Blayne Altermatt was not part of the Liberty squad the last time these two competed against each other. The Ozark transfer scored 16 points connecting on three, three pointers in the highly contested fourth quarter.
The sharpshooter brought his A game to Reynolds County on Monday night leading Liberty to the victory. There was a state playoff atmosphere in the Bunker Gymnasium on Monday night.
Coach Rod Gorman commented after the game, “I was proud of our guys, they were resilient, never quitting. We knew Mountain View would be tough, they did not have Altermatt the first time we played. He is a good player, good shooter. He hit some tough shots.”
Also scoring for the Bunker Eagles: Chetan Calzado – 12, Jayton Skaggs – 6, Jackson Bryant -3 and Owen Sanders – 2.
The Eagles will be back on the court Saturday, Feb. 14, as Bunker High School is hosting the Peoples Community Bank Shootout. The Bunker bunch will host the St. Vincent Indians at 4:30 p.m. The Class 2 school from Perryville stands at 16-5 entering the Saturday game.
• 7 p.m., Feb. 16 – Farmington
• 7:30 p.m., Feb. 17 – Valley
• 6:30 p.m., Feb. 20 – Greenville
• Feb. 24 – District / State Playoffs begin
