Despite a very contentious, back and forth first half, the Saydel Eagles ran away with a victory in Colfax (2-16) on Thursday. The first half was fast-paced and provided plenty of action despite the fact that both teams got into the bonus early.

The Tigerhawks of Colfax-Mingo came out in the third quarter and just could not get the ball to go in the hoop. The Eagles had an 11-2 run that sunk the Tigerhawks’ hopes of a comeback. Despite a contentious fourth quarter, the final score reflected the second half run by the Eagles, who won 54-41.

The second half collapse was indicative of a season long problem according to coach Brandon Smith.

“We’ve been able to play with a lot of teams for a certain amount of time as far as the minutes go along. All of a sudden we have a lapse and one turnover leads to two, three, four, five and we get revved up," Smith said. "The last couple of games we’ve given up a 20-0 run, a 21-2 run, tonight it was a 23-2 run. We’re playing well. We’re under control. We’re confident, and then boom, we let one turnover get us out of sync and it’s over.”

On the outset, the Tigerhawks looked like they would be almost impossibly tough to score on inside, giving them a huge mental edge. Colfax senior Nicolette Husson had five blocked shots inside in the first half. That forced Saydel to play a more outside game, and on this night, they were connecting with regularity.

“Nicolette has been a returning, two-time all-conference player. She’s our rock inside, offensively and defensively we try to go through her,” Smith said. “She got a little carried away after a couple of her blocks and started picking up fouls. She fouled out but we definitely need her to be aggressive.”