The Fairfield Eagles eighth grade A team played a tournament recently in Crockett, winning two of three games to take third place.

Fairfield cagers defeated Crockett B, lost to Livingston and beat Groesbeck.

In the opening game against the Crockett Bulldogs, the Eagles took a 7-5 lead the first period then blanked their opponents 29-0 the second period for a 36-5 lead at intermission.

The Eagles tallied 14 points in the third period and 11 in the fourth, giving up four and seven, to win handily 61-16.

"We started out slow, but the big 29-0 run in the second quarter really put the game out of reach," coach Lynn Caffey reports. "It was an amazing run where everything came together right."

"Our bench guys came in and played well, and everyone scored," the coach adds.

Three players reached double digits in the contest—-Will Akers scored 14, Cooper Cole hit for 11 and Cody Sell tallied 10.

Others scoring were: Jay Roberson, 9; Aaron Cain, 4; Josh Munoz, 4; Andre Welch, 4; Clayton Stone, 3; and Justin Campbell, 2.

Rebound leaders were Sell and Akers.

Competition was stiffer in the second game, against Livingston, as the Eagles fell behind 7-11 the first period and 13-22 by half-time.

The Fairfield quintet tallied 15 points the second half but gave up 23 to drop a 28-45 decision.

"As good as our first game in the tournament was, this one wasn't," Caffey declares. "We missed way too many shots under the basket and easy layups. When you miss so many of the easy shots it's hard to win."

Scoring for the Eagles were: Munoz, 7; Cain, 5; Cole, 4; Sell, 4; Akers, 4; Roberson, 2; and Deonte Carr, 2.

Leading rebounders were Sell and Akers.

Playing Groesbeck for third place in the tourney, the Eagles took an 18-5 first period lead and matched the Goats' nine second period points to lead 27- 14 at half-time.

The Eagles scored 12 points the third period and eight in the fourth, giving up three and nine, to win by a 47-26 margin.

"The highlight of this game was the way we came out strong in the first quarter. That is the one thing we have needed to do a better job of, and I was really glad to see us start a game strong and then carry it on through," Caffey says.

"I thought we bounded back real well from the Livingston loss to take third place in the tournament," he adds.

In double digits, 14 points, was Cole.

Others scoring were: Cain, 8; Roberson, 8; Sell, 7; Munoz, 4; Akers, 4; and Stone, 2.

Leading rebounders were again Sell and Akers.