In a home conference game, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Eagles set their sights on the Riverbend Bears. The last time the Eagles and Bears matched up, Riverbend won 66-59. Going into the game, Forge had a record of 12-7, also carrying a loss against Mountain View from last Friday, and Riverbend stood at 5-10. 

Top scorer of the night was sophomore guard Jayden Morris, with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. 

“I was just attacking the basket and getting my teammates open,” Jayden Morris (‘26) said.

Following behind was Taysean Jones (‘26) who had a double-double, scoring 12 points and 14 rebounds. 

“I definitely picked it up in the second half and made sure to finish the game strong,” Taysean Jones said about his performance. 

Jalen Pierre (‘25) and Finn Perschau (‘25) were both big contributors with Jalen Pierre finishing with 9 points, 8 assists, and 5 steals. Finn Perschau had 2 blocks alongside his 10 points.

Despite the Eagles’ slow start, the game turned out to be a classic, with both teams trading baskets and playing tough. 

In the first quarter, the Eagles couldn’t get their shots to fall. At the beginning of the second quarter, the score was only 10-1 with Riverbend taking the lead.

“I think we came out kind of slow, but talking it out in the locker room helped us at halftime,” Jalen Pierre (‘25) said.

Riverbend played a scrappy game, fighting for every play. However, the Eagles did not back down once, pushing themselves to stay in the game.

 Throughout the second half, the team played a fast-paced game of back-and-forth possessions, trading baskets with Riverbend. 

“Playing a fast-paced game helped us because we have a lot of players who like to play fast games, and we just had to work together,” Jalen Pierre said.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles took over the game, getting their first lead of the night, 43-44. 

From this point, the Eagles did not allow any room for a potential comeback for Riverbend, resulting in a 56-46 win. 

As we go into the last few games of the regular season, the Eagles have high hopes for their season, hoping to make the district tournament.

On Friday, Feb. 2, the Eagles will travel to Brooke Point for a varsity double-header, hopefully continuing this hot streak.