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ICS Eagles split against district hoop opponents

Keynoter Staff
Island Christian’s Adam Dudley breaks away for a bucket in the Eagles’ win at Princeton Christian.
Island Christian’s Adam Dudley breaks away for a bucket in the Eagles’ win at Princeton Christian. Pete Ihrig

Island Christian School’s boys basketball Eagles enjoyed a big win over a longtime rival Friday, then ran into “a buzz saw” Monday.

Westwood Christian, rolling along at 6-0 and making a bid for the District 8-2A title, blistered the ICS Eagles, 93-23, in Miami.

Eagle head coach Jarrod Mandozzi knew the game against “a loaded team” would be one of the most difficult on the schedule. Westwood’s front line includes three players taller than 6-foot-6 with a 6-11 Division 1 prospect among them.

“It was a good experience for our guys to play against a team like that,” Mandozzi said. “We showed a lot of fight and fought until the buzzer sounded.”

Senior ICS forward Tyler Walker battled for nine points, six rebounds and steal and a block.

Senior David Calderwood, the top ICS scorer, went down with an ankle injury and could be sidelined this week. His replacement, seventh-grader Anthony Ovalle, “showed no fear, finishing with seven points and a steal” against Westwood, praised the coach.

The mood was better Friday when Island Christian (3-3) pulled away from Princeton Christian with a 20-0 second quarter and finished with a 46-17 final.

“It was the third straight win and second straight league win,” Mandozzi said. “The guys are ecstatic. They haven’t seen so many wins” in recent seasons.

“We’ve worked hard putting in new offenses and defenses, and they’ve really worked their tails off to learn it all,” the coach said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Calderwood scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and made three steals.

The Eagles made 18 steals against Princeton with junior Adam Dudley, freshman Carter Coussens and eighth-grader Mario Menendez combining for 10 thefts.

Island Christian plays Hialeah Education Academy at 5 p.m. Friday at the Islamorada campus.

The Lady Eagle basketball team (1-1) travels to Miami Christian on Thursday, then hosts Hialeah Educational at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Islamorada. The girls travel to Hebrew Academy on Monday.

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "ICS Eagles split against district hoop opponents."