Wayne Christian girls halt skid

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 9, 2013 1:47 PM

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An aggressive attitude.

Intensity.

And a hunger to win.

Wayne Christian used all of those intangibles to its advantage Tuesday evening inside Clifford Gymnatorium. The Lady Eagles logged a first-quarter shutout defensively and snapped a seven-game skid with a 42-17 triumph over Neuse Christian.

Kelsey Kornegay notched a double-double -- 18 points, 10 rebounds -- for Wayne Christian, which improved to 3-10 overall and captured its first Class 1-A Carolina Christian Conference victory in six attempts this season.

"We needed that," Wayne Christian head coach Lynn Swets said. "It's not necessarily been a slump, more like a hump ... we've been right there. We've been within three, four or five points in all these games and it's been tough to get over that edge."

Not this time.

The Eagles patiently executed their halfcourt offense. Kornegay tallied nine first-quarter points and Katie Isenhower ran a solid floor game with two assists, two steals and two rebounds.

Brooke Barfield, one of five seniors, buried a 3-pointer during Wayne Christian's 16-0, opening-quarter outburst. Barfield finished with 15 points.

"A lot of it is ball movement," Swets said. "If I can get them to move the ball, swing the ball and get the defense off, then Brooke can shoot and Victoria (Combs) can shoot. We've got good shooters and good post players, it's just a matter of being patient."

Neuse Christian (3-11 overall, 0-6 CCC) missed its first eight shots from the field before Kellie Price scored 30 seconds into the second period. Price and Keelie Johnson paced the Lions' offense with eight and seven points, respectively.

Wayne Christian led 23-6 at halftime and boosted its advantage to 22 points after three periods of play.

The Lions pressured the ball in the final eight minutes and forced several turnovers, but couldn't convert on the offensive end. The Eagles went nearly four minutes without a point until Isenhower nailed the front end of a two-shot foul. Isenhower ended the night with four points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.