Trojan teams hold scrimmage

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 29, 2008 1:50 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Pre-season All-American selection Kendrick Easley scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Green to a 57-44 victory in the men's portion of Mount Olive's annual Green-White basketball scrimmage at Kornegay Arena on Tuesday evening.

Shequanta McGee's 3-pointer in the closing seconds helped the White rally from a 13-point, second-half deficit as the women's game ended in a 52-52 tie.

Mike Holloman's dunk gave the White a 44-41 lead late in the second half of the men's contest, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Easley ignited a 16-0 run to end the ballgame. Easley knocked down four 3's during the two 20 minute halves.

"We're going to have to shoot the ball well this year," said Trojans head coach Joey Higginbotham. "Kendrick played well. I thought he settled for his jump shot a little too much, but he's going to have to have a big year for us. He's ready to step up."

Sophomore forward Kason Cheeks added 14 points for the Green and should help fill the void in the interior left by last season's Conference Carolinas player of the year selection Brandon Streeter. Holloman and senior forward Chris Holloway each contributed 14 for the White.

"Our front line is going to be key," said Higginbotham. "How they come along and play, with Craig Hayes and Kason stepping up. We can't just do it without one it has to be all of them."

The Trojans were without guard Justin Melton, who missed the scrimmage due to a knee injury. Melton has a doctor's appointment today and Higginbotham described the injury as day-to-day.

"We've got a lot of work to do, and not having Mouse out there right now we have a little loss of intensity," said Higginbotham. "We're just missing that little bit of leadership right now."

The first year Trojans head coach also got a look at redshirts Deshaune Green, Leonard Johnson, Marquis Berry and former Wayne Christian standout Eric Williams. Green led the redshirts with five points, Berry had three, while Johnson and Williams score two apiece.

Brittany Miller's jumper to open the second half stretched the Green's lead to 38-25 in the women's game before the White answered with a 9-0 run. Brittney Robich started the comeback with a 3 and capped the run with a layup that trimmed the margin to 38-34.

Sophomore Rashanda Speed evened the score at 41-41 with a layup. The White led by as much as three, but Helen Moore tied the game on a layup and gave the Green a 52-49 advantage with 18 seconds to play after converting a 3-point play.

"Helen is a gamer," said head coach Wendy Lee. "She is a competitor and she does not accept losing. That's the thing that is consistently there with her. She's going to battle game in and game out."

McGee's 3 in the waning moments knotted the score. Moore led all scorers with 20 points and teammate Brittany Miller chipped in 10.

Robich led the White with 16 and McGee finished with nine.

"We were a little bit rusty, but that's to be expected," said Lee. "I thought their hustle was good out there at the end. Once they started bearing down on defense, it sort of changed the tone of the game. We feel good about our depth and that was pretty evident how it was match up evenly today."

Both the men and women open their seasons on Nov. 15. The men travel to Salisbury for the Catawba College Classic and the women host Virginia Union at 2 p.m.