Top-seeded EW girls dismantle South Brunswick

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on February 28, 2015 11:11 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

Despite a two-week absence from the basketball court and its habitual slow starts, it wouldn't have been too surprising to see Eastern Wayne struggle to find an offensive rhythm Saturday afternoon.

The top-seeded Warriors looked completely different instead.

Unbeaten in 24 outings this season, Eastern Wayne came out firing on all cylinders and dismantling 32nd-seeded South Brunswick, 64-30, in first-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A women's basketball playoffs.

EW entertains county foe Charles B. Aycock on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Tianna Christopher led the Warriors' offense with 13 points and sat out for most of the second half.

"I haven't been scoring like the way I should," Christopher said. "I've been really struggling, but my whole mindset was 'just go, just score, just play,' so I did."

Coach Phil Gray was happy to finally see Christopher, who had been in a scoring slump, break through and contribute to the win.

"Tonight she came back and she brought the intensity, drive and desire back," he said. "She had let that slip away for a couple of games."

Starters Naheria Hamilton and Jasmine Covington contributed the most. Hamilton had six points and three rebounds, while Covington added five points and two rebounds of her own.

It was an impressive performance from the Lady Warriors' bench, though, that pleased Gray the most. Christina Perry came off the pine to score eight points -- all in the fourth quarter. All 15 Eastern Wayne players saw court time and a total of 12 scratched in the scoring column.

"We played as a team tonight, everyone played together," Gray said. "They were getting rid of the ball, not being selfish and cheering on their teammates. That's big."

Gray stressed the importance of taking the win in stride and moving on.

"I just tell (the girls) that right now, the strong survive," he said. "It's do or die. You come out ready to play every night or you go home and get ready for next season."

The Warriors swept the regular-season series from the Golden Falcons by a total of seven points. While there may be some chippy play, Eastern Wayne is treating the game like any other postseason matchup.

"We treat everyone just like they're the next team up," Covington said. "Playing Aycock is just the next team. They're in the conference with us, but it's just another game to get through."