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Sports

Eureka Basketball Boys Gain Experience in Loss to Mighty Chaminade

Local prep superstar Bradley Beal scores 33 points as Chaminade beats Eureka, 85-57, in the semifinals of the Denver Miller Tournament at Kirkwood.

With Bradley Beal scoring 33 points, the Chaminade Red Devils tamed the varsity boys basketball team, 85-57, on Friday night in the semifinals of the Denver Miller Tournament at Kirkwood Senior High School.

It is safe to say that most, if not all, of Eureka's players had not seen a team of this caliber before.

The win for the Red Devils (15-0, 4-0 Metro Catholic) marked the fourth game this season in which Chaminade has scored 80 points or more. Two of those 80-point efforts have occurred in the Denver Miller Tournament.

"I thought there were times where we kept our composure and we did a lot of good things, so hopefully the kids gained some confidence and say to themselves that ‘yeah, we can be successful’," Eureka head coach Craig Kennedy said.

"It's so easy to let their strength and athleticism get the better of you, and when you do that, the difference between them and most other teams is that when you make a mistake against them, it turns into a highlight reel.

“When you make a mistake against other teams, they might also make a mistake and give it back to you. But Chaminade just punishes you for everything that you don't do perfectly," Kennedy said.

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 Tyler Jordan led the Wildcats with 20 points in the loss.

"When we ran our offense and did what we wanted to do, we played pretty well," Jordan said. "But it's when we turn the ball over, it gave them (Chaminade) easy run-outs and that's what got us into trouble."

Deonco Williams also scored in double figures for the Wildcats with 10 points against the Red Devils.

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"This was a total team effort where we came out and played good team defense," Chaminade head coach Kelvin Lee said. "Bradley Beal gets his 33 points, but you've also got to give credit to Tevin Evans and Luke Bumgarner and the rest of the guys because they come out and they play like a team."

The Red Devils had three players score in double figures as Brendan Kelly had 15 points while Evans added 14 points for Chaminade.

For Eureka (3-9, 0-1 Suburban West), the loss to Chaminade moved the Wildcats into the third-place game, where they defeated Duchesne, 60-57, on Saturday.

"I think it was a good experience to play against Brad Beal to see what kind of player he is because he's a great player," Williams said. "We just went out there and tried to contain him as much as we could."

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