Eastern Wayne girls continue to roll
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 19, 2013 11:38 PM
The showdown never materialized.
State-ranked Eastern Wayne made sure of it.
The league-leading Warriors scored the game's first 13 points through their normal suffocating full-court defense and handed South Johnston a 63-30 loss in New Hope on Friday evening.
Eastern Wayne, ranked No. 6 in the latest NCPreps.com Class 3-A girls' basketball poll, remained unbeaten in six Eastern Carolina Conference outings this season. The Warriors (17-1 overall) extended their lead to 21/2 games over the Trojans and county rival Southern Wayne in the league standings.
"They're quick, they're athletic, they're aggressive and we knew they would be," South Johnston head coach Ronda Langston said. "We did not handle it like I thought we would handle it. The game was very physical, at times too physical ... at times out of control.
"Everything snowballed and we couldn't get anything to go our way."
The Warriors pressed the entire 32 minutes. The Trojans committed 26 turnovers and surrendered another 25 possessions on steals. More than half of the miscues benefited Eastern Wayne, which extended its winning streak to five games and reached the 60-point mark for the 11th time this season.
"There were some spurts where we had a few mental lapses defensively and offensively," Eastern Wayne head coach Tyrone Wagner said. "We played well, but it could have been better. (The win) puts us a little further ahead (in the ECC)."
Jasmine Covington led three Warriors in double figures with 14 points. Elondia Grant added 12, including 10 in the fourth quarter off five South Johnston turnovers. Nijah Muhammad knocked down 10 points.
Apprian Sutton contributed eight rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals. Megan Mozingo supplied three rebounds, three assists and six steals off the bench.
Alexis Massengill emerged the lone Trojan in double figures with 11 points. Three teammates -- Alex Millay, Deja Bizzell and Emma Blackmon -- delivered four points apiece.
South Johnston (5-7, 3-2) shot 1 of 7 from the floor and went more than six minutes without a basket in the opening period. Massengill's layup off Krista Collins assist halted the Warriors' 13-0 run.
Overall, the Trojans converted just three of 25 offensive possessions in the first eight minutes. The Warriors led 15-4 after one period and 26-14 at halftime.
"We did not handle the pressure well," Langston said. "We kept making mistake after mistake after mistake. It didn't matter who had the ball in their hands. The people that are the best ball handlers were throwing the ball away ... at people's feet, throwing it at Casper.
"We were throwing it everywhere."