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The victory gives the Eagles a 13-1 record, the only stumble coming in the annual Fairfield Invitational tournament in which the team finished second.
During the Christmas break, the FHS quintet will head to Fort Worth to play in the 50th annual Whataburger Tournament at Fort Worth.
“The kids did good defensively over there,” head coach Joey Worley says of the Robinson game. “We were pleased the first half.”
The Eagles held the Rockets to just 14 first half points while scoring 30, just over half of that courtesy of senior guard Eric Palmer who was on a hot streak from long range.
Palmer counted four 3-pointers toward his 16 first half points and wound up making seven from long range in the contest.
“Eric Palmer shot the ball really well. He was seven of 10 from the 3-point line,” Worley reports. “All the shots he took were good shots.”
The Fairfield defense slipped some in the third period when both teams tallied 17 points, and the Eagles took the final stanza 11-9 to seal the win.
“Robinson did a good job of running their offense the third quarter and made us work some,” Worley says.
Palmer was high point man for the Eagles with 25 points on the night. He was joined in double digits by senior post Eric Bradford, 14 points.
Others scoring were Chris Jones, 9; Josh Lynch, 2; Gerry McIlveen, 2; Willie Tatum, 2; Tevin Green, 2; and LaDarius Brackens, 2.
The only chink in the Fairfield game was from the free throw line—-the Eagles missed all five attempts.
In junior varsity action, the Eagles claimed a 15-8 lead the first period and won the second period 8-6 for a 23-14 advantage at intermission.
Fairfield scored seven points the third period and 14 in the fourth, giving up 12 and nine, to take a 44-35 decision.
“We played a scrappy Robinson Rockets team and were able to do more things right in the execution of our offensive and defensive scheme to come out with a victory,” coach Jody Walker reports.
Reaching double digits were Evan Simpson, 13 points, and Tim Benson, 12 points.
Also scoring were: Daniel Wilson, 7; Vernard Evans, 3; Jay Brown, 3; and Cody Anderson, 2.
Top rebounders were Benson, Simpson and Evans.
Fairfield freshmen jumped on top of Robinson, taking a 12-9 lead the first period and a 26-15 lead at the half, then let the Rockets make up some ground.
The Eagles were out scored 14-21 the second half, but the early lead allowed them to claim a 40-36 win.
“We played a hard fought game and never let down during the game. We made big plays late to secure our win,” coach Clint Elliott reports.
“I am proud of the effort of all the players,” he adds.
In double digits were Robert Durham, 12 points, and Brodrick White, 10 points.
Others scoring were: Cooper Vandiver, 5; Jacob Cain, 5; Darian Scott, 4; and Tulio Cordon, 2.
The varsity Eagles play the Whataburger Tournament on Dec. 27-29 and all teams return to action Jan. 4 when the host Bullard in the final pre-district game.