Three games into the young season, the East Davidson boys were not in desperate need of a win, but certainly needed a game to go its way. Tuesday evening at home against first-year program Wheatmore, everything finally did favor the Golden Eagles.

Taylor Warren pumped in 16 points and Duncan Bean 15 on five 3-pointers, as East found the left column for the first time this year in a 73-59 decision over the Warriors. A 26-point third quarter helped the Eagles turn a 34-22 halftime lead into a 17-point advantage headed to the fourth. Eighteen of the points came from behind the arc as EDHS shot lights own during the eight minutes.

“We shot the ball for a change the way we are capable of,” said East head coach Matt Jacobs. “I think we were relaxed because we were playing an opponent we felt like we should be better than.”

The Warriors scored the first four points of the second half to get within eight, but East flipped the switch and starting clipping off 3s in a hurry. Keaton Hawks buried the first and Nick Lopez added one as well, but it was Bean who had the hottest hand from the perimeter. He knocked down three of them, including one from nearly in the corner that somehow banked off the backboard and went through the hoop. Some might wonder why he did not start the game with such a sweet shot from the outside.

“He has been in the starting lineup, but boy he had it going today,” Jacobs said. “As long as he keeps shooting like that, I am going to keep him out of the lineup. You know it is your night when you can bank one in.”

Whatever shots did not fall from deep, Dale Thomas and Warren were busy underneath cleaning up. Other than Keegan Dunn scoring 14 for the Warriors down low, Thomas and Warren ruled the paint using their length. Warren’s putback with 1:37 to play in the third pushed the score to 58-37 as East was well on its way to win No. 1.

Wheatmore looked decent for a team in its first season, and has quite a talent in guard Dakota White. The crafty athlete caused trouble with his penetration and he could hit from the outside, scoring 16 points for the Warriors.

He helped keep WHS close, and his two buckets early in the second quarter had the Warriors behind by only four. That was right before Bean introduced himself to the newcomers, splashing in his first two 3s of the game on consecutive trips down the floor to quickly open up the gap to 10.

It was hard for either team to get into any rhythm in the first 16 minutes, as the officials called 24 fouls and 25 combined free throws were taken by the two teams.

“That has been a trend for us and our opponents,” Jacobs said. “I don’t know if our opponents get caught up in playing how we play because we foul way too much. At the same time, we are 12-deep and I can live with those fouls.”

Wheatmore kept fighting, hoping to get into the half down by only eight. East ended that thought, getting layups from Blake Dodd and Thomas right before intermission.

East will visit Trinity on Friday.