Written by: Tyler Hawkins
2/7/2009 12:19 PM

Friday night the Capital Eagles flew into Centennial looking to up end the number one Patriots in a 5A SIC battle between the two conference leaders. That flight however was cut short as Centennial used a balanced attack to beat the Eagles 70-54.

The atmosphere was great you could feel the intensity in the air and both teams came out ready to rock. I hadn't seen the sopohmore backcourt of Patrick Manning and Jordan Wright much and honestly I wasn't sure how they would respond to a big game like this. Neither of them is particularly flashy, minus the hair, but both play with maturity and within themselves. I was impressed with their control of the game. Taylor Bolt whom I believed to be a pretty solid guard was virtually a non-factor.

The scoring load though came from the two post for the Pats' Kyle Davis and Dallin Erickson combined for 30 points and did a nice job of containing Dontese Tower and Paul Egwuonwu. Davis had some nice moves in the paint, a soft touch and a decent face game to keep the defense honest. The guy knows how to play the game and excited the crowd with a couple of dunks. Centennials' student body somehow found a way to pick the guy up on their shoulders after the win too. Erickson was a little more meat and potatoes. He caught drop off passes and converted them plain and simple, to the tune of 14 points. Throw in the outside shooting of Jake Petersen (18 points) and it was a wrap.

Centennial came out red hot in the 1st quarter to take a double digit lead. At the end of the 1st quarter it was 19-18 and Capital had crawled back into it. That was the last time they would ever be under a 10 point lead as the Pats' punched the ball inside and hit open jumpers.

I really would like to see Towers and Egwuonwu work the high-low like the Pats' big men. I've been told by a few people Towers is the best player in the city, which may be true. He finished with a game high 23 points. The thing I like most about his game is he plays the "whole" game he's the type of guy you take with into a foxhole. Shots weren't falling like they usually do for him but the guy never takes a play off and he crashes the boards. He's a first teamer for sure. A decent run in the State Tournament and there could be even more accolades for the Senior.
Egwuonwu on the other hand is an enigma to me. Listed at 6'8 he looks more like 6'6, but the guy has some serious tools and could be a dominant force if he would spend a little time in the paint and get to the hoop. He did provide a highlight reel alley-oop that put a poor Centennial defender in the rim that even got me out of my seat, other that he had 7 points and a couple of boards.

Shout-outs: Clippers and owner Chris Crawford down on Broadway. Manning and Wright were both sporting some of their latest styles. Manning with the red Pats symbol and Wright with the Jordan logo, seemed fitting.
The Dominican Republic Floor Hockey team from the Special Olympics. It's our fine state's honor and pleasure to have that here this winter thanks guys.
Capitals student body busted out the lets play football chant....that's funny because were'nt they a top 5 team in the state all year? Whoops they lost to Mountain View 3-0 in the first round I believe...I dont think I'd use that one again guys unless you were State Champs (see Taysum Hill Highland)

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