Eau Claire guard D. Mitcham- Wilson crosses up Dreher's James Whitehead in the open floor. On December 16 at Eau Claire High School, the Dreher Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Shamrocks 62- 38. Chris Brown led Dreher with 15 points after draining two first quarter three- pointers to set the early pace. The Shamrocks were scrappy and played hard but just could not compete with Dreher's size advantage.

Brown's three- pointers jump- started the Dreher offense right away. Most of the points in the first quarter came on jump shots, and the Blue Devil defense used made shots as a catalyst for setting up a stifling man- to- man defense. Dreher led 17- 6 after one.

The second quarter was similarly dominated by the Devils but in a completely different way. Aaron Johnson, Jonathan Hymes, and Dominique Nathaniel pounded the ball inside against the smaller Shamrock defenders. Blocking shots on defense and posting up on offense, Johnson, in particular, battered Eau Claire. For the Shamrocks, Marcus Gilenton valiantly battled on the interior and did manage six hard- fought points by halftime. Dreher led at the break, 29- 13.

Shamrock forward Donald Parcell has his shot blocked by Dreher's Jonathan Hymes. Dreher really broke out in the third quarter on the strength of Brown, Nathaniel, Dominic Boyd, and James Whitehead's shooting. Each player scored at least four points in the quarter and the Blue Devils rolled out 23 points in the third. Both teams used very deep rotations giving as many as 11 players time on the court in the quarter.

By the fourth quarter the game was a foregone conclusion with Dreher leading by 30 points. But Eau Claire played tight defense, forced turnovers, and started the fourth quarter with a string of baskets. Ronnie Green and Louis Woods, in particular, gave the Shamrocks an early spark. But ultimately, as Dreher slowed down the pace and ran down the clock, Eau Claire ran out of time. The Blue Devils added several late buckets by Dominique Miller and Quayshun Hawkins to finish off the Shamrocks, 62- 38.