Reece Eftink scores 22 as Hawks rout Rams in ‘statement’ win

After winning the Oran Invitational and starting the season 5-0, the Kelly Hawks felt certain that they would be a high seed in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Motivated by the perceived slight of being seeded lower than Woodland and Notre Dame, the Hawks stated their case with a 72-60 win over the Scott City Rams on Tuesday, Dec. 12, in Benton, Missouri.

“We feel like we should’ve gotten top four,” said Kelly senior Reece Eftink. “We got ranked sixth so we just felt like we got to come out and make a statement against them.”

Eftink scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Hawks.

“Just mainly down-low, making the easy two-foot shots, throwing high, and finishing,” Eftink said. “Great passes by the guards, and especially Dalton Forck throwing dimes.”

Michael Dollins also scored 18 points for the Hawks. Kelly has eight seniors but is led by the trio of Eftink, Dollins, and Forck.

“Michael gets it up the court, all the teams collapse on Dalton, I think because he’s 6-8,” Eftink said, “and that just leaves me open.”

The Hawks started the game on a 13-0 run. The Rams, having missed every shot for the first six minutes of the game, scored their first basket on a 3-pointer by Brenden Beussink, who scored all but one of his 14 points in the first half.

The Rams got their act together and scored 13 points in the second and third quarter. Feeling the urgency of a 35-32 deficit, the Rams mounted a desperate comeback attempt and outscored the Hawks 28-19 in the fourth quarter, where they made 10-of-11 from the free throw line and Kobe Watson scored 11 of his team-leading 18 points.

Ross Peters scored 13 points, including eight in the fourth quarter to keep the Kelly lead at double digits.

“We just turned the ball over,” Eftink said. “I just felt we had a big enough lead, we were careless with the ball. We just gotta take care of the ball better when we’re up like that and just close the game out.”

A fast finish could not make up for a slow start, but at least the Rams made the rivalry game competitive at the end.

“It’s always fun when you get a big rivalry game like this,” Eftink said. “You get the crowd involved, you get everybody involved.”

At 6-0, the Hawks are halfway to matching their previous win total under first-year head coach Noel Trimmer.

“We knew we were pretty good working together,” Eftink said, “but I don’t think any of us knew we were gonna be 6-0.”

The Hawks travel south this winter to take on Scott County Central on Dec. 14, and Hayti on Dec. 18, before taking part in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Dec. 26-30.

After losing their first game of the season, the Rams (3-1) return home to take on St. Vincent on Dec. 15, Saxony Lutheran on Dec. 19, and Meadow Heights on Dec. 22, before the Christmas Tournament.