The Horizon Honors Eagles put up a fight during the homecoming game, but unfortunately could not beat the Paradise Honors Panthers. The Eagles lost by 53 points, with a final score of 92-39. Even though they took the loss, the team gave it their all and did not give up, no matter what the score difference was.

The game started with Paradise Honors making a 3-pointer, followed by another basket. Shortly after, senior Hargun Sachdev scored the first basket for the Eagles, leaving them down by only  three points. As the game continued, Paradise began to take a more significant lead. By the end of the first quarter, Paradise was ahead by 15, with a score of 7-22.

In the second quarter, the Eagles only scored eight more points, while the Panthers scored 20, leaving the score at 15-42 by the end of the second. Although they were losing by 27 points, the Eagles continued to make every effort and didn’t back down for the rest of the game.

Senior Stephen Delgado-McCollum said that overall the “team played hard,” and he “thought [they] could win [had they] executed everything properly, but unfortunately, [they] didn’t.” He said that, personally, he had fun and was “not disappointed in [his] effort,” even if “it wasn’t anything special.” Freshman Michael Keelen agreed that they played well, but as a team, they could’ve played better if they didn’t “rush every possession.” He thought he played well, personally, but would have done better if he did not panic as much.

Coach Henderson said that his team played “as well as [they] could,” and was “proud of how [his team] played hard every minute of the game, even after it was out of reach.” Henderson mentioned that they needed to “get more guys involved on offense,” but was still “very impressed with how well [they] played.” On the team’s permanently positive attitude, Henderson stated that “you don’t go into a fight thinking you are going to lose. You go into it looking to throw your very best at them.” Overall, he was very pleased with his boys’ performance. He told his team after the game that he “would take them over Paradise Honors any day. [They] fought hard, never quit, and stayed together all game.” He also explained how their motto this year was “no matter how beat up or beat down we are, we are never out of the fight,” and this game showed exactly how they kept fighting, even if the win was out of reach.

In the end, the team was satisfied with how they played. They fought hard, and chose not to give up for the entirety of the game. The Eagles only have a few games left of the season, so come support Horizon Honors basketball on Tuesday, Jan. 29, for their game against the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks!