{"id":140782,"date":"2026-01-28T04:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/140782\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T04:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:49:08","slug":"hot-shooting-eric-nunez-scores-season-high-17-points-helps-plano-beat-sandwich-for-third-time-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/140782\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot-shooting Eric Nunez scores season-high 17 points, helps Plano beat Sandwich for third time \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something about the Sandwich<\/a> gym brings out the shooter in Plano<\/a> senior guard Eric Nunez.<\/p>\n

As a sophomore, Nunez hit 10 3-pointers in a JV game at Sandwich. <\/p>\n

He was hot again Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Nunez hit five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 17 points. His hot shooting fueled Plano\u2019s game-turning run to end the second quarter. The Reapers went on to a 58-47 win, their third of the season over Kishwaukee River Conference rival Sandwich.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stands, the intensity, the fans, my teammates \u2013 I just had more energy tonight. It definitely brought me up more,” Nunez said. \u201cI guess it\u2019s the fans that hype me up more, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nunez\u2019s corner three broke a 15-15 tie with 2:45 left in the second quarter. After a three by teammate Cooper Beaty, Nunez canned another three to cap Plano\u2019s 11-0 run to end the first half ahead 26-15.<\/p>\n

Nunez hit his fourth three out of halftime to extend the lead to 29-15.<\/p>\n

After his last two, Nunez held three fingers by his side as he looked back at his bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that first three, catch and shoot, that is what I am known for. After the first one I said this is going to be my night,\u201d Nunez said. \u201cI was thinking about that game when I hit the 10 threes. As a shooter I know shots are going to fall. Just have to focus on the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ethan Taxis added 14 points and Beaty and Kevin Martinez nine apiece for Plano (12-10, 6-2). Griffin Somlock scored 13 and Brady Behringer 12 for Sandwich (7-16, 3-5).<\/p>\n

\"Plano's<\/p>\n

Boys Basketball: Sandwich at Plano Plano’s Eric Nunez (5) goes in for a layup attempt during their basketball game between Sandwich at Plano Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026 in Sandwich. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

Nunez\u2019s breakout shooting night was a sight for sore eyes to Plano coach Kyle Kee.<\/p>\n

Nunez came in shooting just 21% from beyond the 3-point line for the season, and had scored 56 total points in 21 games with a previous season-high of nine.<\/p>\n

And yet the Plano coaches collectively felt they hadn\u2019t seen what Nunez was capable of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting for him to break out, we\u2019ve been talking about that he was due for a breakout shooting night because he\u2019s a great shooter and he\u2019s been struggling,\u201d Kee said. \u201cHe just hasn\u2019t had one of those nights and what a great night to have it, in this gym, playing these guys for the third time. That is what you are looking for is seniors to step up in big games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited, hopefully he can carry it on. It changes our team, makes it not all about Taxis and Kevin inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nunez had scored one total point in Plano\u2019s previous two meetings with Sandwich, and was 0-for-5 from distance in their last game.<\/p>\n

But he made his first shot Tuesday, and shot 5-for-8 from distance. Sandwich coach Matthew Chalfin, who coached Nunez as a freshman at Plano, wasn\u2019t surprised to see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about it in the locker room that you have to be prepared for one of their guys to get their points and tonight it was Eric,\u201d Chalfin said. \u201cHe has always been a good shooter. He\u2019s been struggling this season. Unfortunately for us he caught fire tonight. We didn\u2019t do a good enough job matching that shot making.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sandwich's<\/p>\n

Boys Basketball: Sandwich at Plano Sandwich’s Griffin Somlock (4) drives to the basket during their basketball game between Sandwich at Plano Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026 in Sandwich. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

Somlock scored seven of his 13 to stake Sandwich to an 11-8 lead after a quarter. But the Indians were hurt by 16 turnovers, nearly half coming in the game-turning second quarter.<\/p>\n

Sandwich had won its last two games coming in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the unfortunate part we talked about, is this isn\u2019t the team I\u2019ve seen the last two weeks. We let the pressure get to us, myself included,\u201d Chalfin said. \u201cI have to be better in these games. We have a really tough one Friday with Johnsburg. We have to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taxis, Plano\u2019s leading scorer, had just two points at halftime, but got rolling in the second half with 12. The speedy junior guard also dished out four assists with just one turnover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s under control, it\u2019s exciting,\u201d Kee said. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to focus on him a little bit. He has the ability and he\u2019s starting to calm down, play slower and put it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandwich has its fingers crossed with its leading scorer. Senior Nick Michalek, who scored seven points Tuesday, had to be helped off the court after hurting his knee in the first minute of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t know yet \u2013 not good enough to come back in the game. He said he twisted it and the side of his knee was hurting,” Chalfin said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Plano's<\/p>\n

Boys Basketball: Sandwich at Plano Plano’s Eric Nunez (5) and Ethan Taxis (3) look at the scoreboard in the waning seconds of their basketball game between Sandwich at Plano Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026 in Sandwich. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local News Network)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something about the Sandwich gym brings out the shooter in Plano senior guard Eric Nunez. As a sophomore,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[35359,160,162,161],"class_list":["post-140782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-illinois-high-school-boys-basketball","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}