Eldorado's Aiden Whitlock came up big in the fourth quarter Eagles, bailing them out for a 54-43 victory against Johnston City at the Arrowhead Classic Friday night.
Whitlock, who had a team-high 20 points, came up clutch for Eldorado in the final eight minutes when the junior scored seven in a row to help push a four-point 43-39 lead to a 48-39 advantage en route to the win.
EHS coach Josh Bradley was complimentary of his junior.
"I thought for three quarters he didn't show up to play," Bradley said. "Finally, he understood the team needed him and I thought he really stepped up there in the fourth quarter and grabbed some big rebounds, got some buckets in the paint and did what the team needed him to do."
Ladayyeah Shewmaker also finished in double figures for the Eagles, scoring 14 points, including 12 in the second half.
Parker Price scored seven points, while Bryant Bryd finished with five points. Hunter Sizemore tossed in four points, while Nolan Henson tacked on three and Kolton Oglesby threw in a free throw.
Eldorado jumped out to a 17-10 first quarter lead and led 26-18 at the break.
It was a week when Eldorado would normally be playing in the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic, a tournament they spent more than a decade playing in. The Eagles went 3-1 at the Arrowhead Mid-Winter and Bradley said he liked the setup.
"I think it's a good tournament. Where we're all at, we seem to be pretty even and if you don't play well on that night, a team can sneak up on you and beat you. DuQuoin had some big kids (Thursday night) that challenged us a little bit and without Nolan Milligan, some guys have an opportunity to play and some of our guys got exposed a little bit defensively because Nolan is such a good defender. He bails a lot of guys out. Some guys think they're pretty good defenders and really they're suspect in some areas and we have some video to show them that a little bit. We don't play until next Friday and so we have a week to work on that."
Du Quoin 68, Eldorado 63
A hot start by Du Quoin propelled the Indians to a 68-63 win Thursday night at the Arrowhead Classic at Johnston City High School.
The Eagles finished with four players in double figures as Price had a team-high 17 points, while Shewmaker tacked on 13 points. Sizemore tossed in 12 points and Whitlock tacked on 10.
Will Bethel scored six points, while Bryant Byrd and Nolan Henson both tossed in two points. Noah Smith finished with a free throw.
Du Quoin jumped out to a 17-8 first quarter lead and led 34-24 at halftime.
Whitlock and Shewmaker both made the Arrowhead Classic Mid-Winter All-Tournament Team.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
