Antonio Gordon (11) puts up a shot over Mac's Zachary Williams (15) on Friday night. Gordon finished with 39 points, most of which came in an electric second-half burst.
Round 1 of the Gore War goes to Eisenhower.
The Eagles swept MacArthur for a pair of home victories Friday night, adding wins to already impressive resumes.
The Ike girls used a quick start and physical defense to hand the Highlanders a 63-37 defeat, while the boys put together a spectacular offensive burst to handle Mac, 100-68.
Ike won't have much time to celebrate its wins, as both squads return to action tomorrow night at home against Enid. The girls' contest tips at 5 p.m., and the boys will follow the conclusion of that game at 6:30 p.m.
Ike boys reach century mark
When Antonio Gordon sunk his fifth 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, the Eagles realized reaching triple-digits was a feasible possibility.
With every basket made, the Ike gym became louder and louder because everyone knew what was coming. And come it did.
With less than a minute remaining, Eric Graham nailed a floater, giving the Eagles the final tally of 100-68 over city rival MacArthur.
The Eagles averaged 71 points per game coming into the contest, eclipsing the 80-point mark only twice.
Although Eagles coach Todd Millwee said he was happy with the milestone, his main focus was improving on defense. Mac was the fourth team of Ike's past five opponents to break 60 points.
"On offense, we're scoring a lot of points," Millwee said. "We've had (two) games in the 80s this year, but usually our bread and butter is our defense. (Reaching 100 points) wasn't even a thought until we got in the 90s. I was wanting our offense to reverse it, but they're all kids — they all wanted to get that triple digits up there."
The 32-point win for Ike can be misleading. The Eagles led by only six after the third quarter, outscoring the Highlanders 37-11 in the fourth.
Before the offensive explosion became the main storyline, the fans were captivated by an electric back-and-fourth between Gordon and Mac's Sep Reese.
The two traded baskets continuously as the teams traded leads, but Reese's efforts weren't enough, especially in the second half.
Reese had 21 points at halftime, but managed only 10 in the second half — five of which came from the free throw line — to finish with 31 points total.
Mac coach Marco Gagliardi said Reese's lack of shots led to his decreased production in the second half.
"He deferred a little bit more, and I don't think they did anything necessarily different at all," Gagliardi said. "Sep can get where he wants, he just passed to other people and wasn't as aggressive."
Gordon put an exclamation mark on a 39-point night with a thunderous alley-oop dunk assisted by RJ Fisher, giving Ike a 72-59 advantage with six minutes remaining in the game.
Although Gordon won the scoring battle with Reese, his supporting cast played perhaps even a greater role in the win.
Kinyon Parker and Fisher both scored in double-figures, adding 18 and 17 points, respectively. Reggie Smith contributed nine points as well.
Reese didn't have the same advantage, finishing as the only double-digit scorer for the Highlanders. The next closest player was Nasir Kemper, who finished with nine points.
Ike girls start fast, handle Mac
Eisenhower's Gena Rogers lines up a shot against Mac on Friday night. Rogers finished with seven points in the win.
Ike girls coach Daniel Wall told his team he wanted intensity through all four quarters, and his players responded.
The Eagles relied on a healthy mix of physical defense and offensive aggressiveness to defeat Mac, 63-37. The win ended Ike's three-game losing skid.
"We wanted to come out with intensity, and we wanted to begin the game with a lot of passes," Wall said. "I feel like this is the best our girls have played so far, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
The Highlanders showed signs of life late in the third quarter when they narrowed the Eagles' advantage to 32-21, but the combination of Ginger Reece, Jaeda Reed and Delicia Brown was too much for them to overcome.
Led by that trio, Ike outscored Mac 14-3 the rest of the third, and 31-16 the remaining of the game. Reed led all scorers with 16 points, and Reece wasn't far behind with 15 points. Brown finished with 10 points.
Sydney Gunter led Mac with 13 points.
"Ginger does so much for us — she attacked well, she passed the ball well and she shot the ball well," Wall said. "Jaeda Reed did her thing on the inside, and she's been our go-to offensively. I was also super impressed with Delicia Brown and the way she attacked the ball. She had some huge free throws down the stretch."