EW girls drop to second in ECC 3A/4A play

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on January 25, 2014 11:22 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Each time Eastern Wayne climbed to within a single possession against South Central, it couldn't just finish the job Friday evening.

A turnover.

A hurried shot.

A lapse on defense.

At some point, each of those miscues came into play during the Warriors' 46-38 loss to the Falcons in a pivotal Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference girls' basketball game. South Central exited as the sole ECC leader after it handed Eastern Wayne its second league defeat of the season.

"The first quarter we didn't have very much urgency at all," EW head coach Phil Gray said. "I feel like we came out (thinking) we beat them the first game and we didn't take them too seriously this game."

South Central raced to an 8-0 lead on two 3-pointers from Shanique Streeter and a driving layup from Bianca Lockamy. Lockamy posted a team-best 11 points, while teammates Streeter and point guard Chrystall Jerome tallied nine points apiece.

The Warriors (8-4 overall, 5-2 CC) trimmed the deficit to 13-11, but the Falcons (11-7, 6-1) answered with a 3-pointer and traditional three-point play.

South Central led 23-14 at the break.

"It's big coming in here and not turning the ball over as much as did the first time (against EW)," Falcons head coach Robert Duck said. "(We) had a sense of urgency. We played defense, we boxed out. Eastern Wayne has a good team, very physical.

"We just made sure we played good halfcourt defense and concentrated on getting stops."

Eastern Wayne junior Tianna Christopher swished a 3-pointer and converted a steal into a layup just 50 seconds into the third quarter. The Warriors whittled the deficit to a single possession, 26-24, on Chelsea Wynn's old-fashioned three-point play and Jasmine Covington's coast-to-coast layup.

The Falcons extended the lead to 30-24.

Early in the fourth, Christopher drilled her third 3-pointer of the night and Covington added a three-point play of her own. Naheria Hamilton's layup off of Covington's assist trimmed South Central's advantage to 37-36 with about 4 1/2 minutes to play.

EW misfired on two chances to take the lead and South Central sealed the outcome despite a shaky effort at the free throw line. The Falcons missed three fourth-quarter free throws and shot 8 of 13 overall.

"We executed when we needed to, but like I said, the big thing was not turning the ball over," Duck said. "They really met the pass, took over the possession and didn't focus too much on the outcome."

Christopher and Covington tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively. Hamilton supplied six points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots.