1A ORAN FACES BIG TASK IN OPENING ROUND OF TOURNEY WHEN IT TACKLES CAPE CENTRAL

When first-year Oran coach Larry Boshell was asked whether he felt a Class 1A school such as Oran has a chance against the much larger 4A Cape Central Tigers in the opening round of the U-High Tournament, his answer was unequivocal.

"I'm not really scared by a bigger school," said Boshell. "We play a bunch of 2A schools. I don't think it will bother my kids, but I'm aware that bigger schools don't want to be beat by a 1A school, so we'll be ready to play hard."

So far this season, Oran has indeed played hard, going 4-2 with wins over Kelly, Delta, Gideon and East Prairie. The Eagles placed third with a win over Gideon in their own tournament at the beginning of the season, getting beaten by top-seeded Twin Rivers in the semifinals. The Eagles' other loss came at the hands of Scott City.

"It's too early in our season to really get a feel for where we are at," said Boshell. "Hopefully, I can get our kids to forget about how big the school (Cape Central) is and go out and play basketball. We are doing a pretty good job defensively, though."

Oran will be wearing the 10th seed when it faces seventh-seeded Cape Central at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the opening round.

The Eagles are only giving up about 59 points a game, which is close to the preseason team goal of attempting to allow no more than 55 points per game.

"We can play adequate defense with anybody," said Boshell.

Offensively, Oran has adequate depth, as well.

Phillip Seyer has been the Eagles' top scorer, averaging 17 points a game. Travis Friga, Adam Friga and Eric Spies are all also averaging in double figures.

"Eric Spies has exceeded my expectations," said Boshell. "I knew he was a good player, I just didn't know how good. He has taken care of the ball when asked, shot well, and most of all he is the furthest along defensively of any of my kids. Last year he had some problems understanding the man-to-man defense, but this year I'm very pleased with his play."

The starting lineup for tournament will likely include Seyer, T. Friga, A. Friga, Spies and Ryan Dennis.

Although Boshell has never coached against a Cape Central team, he has a good idea of what he will be up against.

"They have been struggling early on, but they have played some really big teams," said Boshell. "They have some quality players. Ross Conner is a heck of a player. Conner, Eric Wessel and Jonathon Ayers have really impressed me. Cape is a 4A school, so there is no way I'm going to go in and not respect them. They will be ready to play, but so will we."