Eastern Wayne girls build quick lead, roll past Rams

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on December 1, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

bdavis@newsargus.com

Steals, turnovers and blocked shots allowed Eastern Wayne to build a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.

That's when Warrior freshman Nyesha Best and senior Naheria Hamilton pushed their team to a 64-37, season-opening romp over Greene Central on Monday evening.

"We played well as a team. We didn't have too many people out there that were being selfish and trying to take over the game," Warriors head coach Phil Gray said. "Our first game, we practiced for 30 days, and we got those first-game jitters, (but) we got them out. Hopefully we can improve on that."

Maybe there are some improvements.

But the Warriors quickly took control over the Rams. Junior Christina Perry eyed her offensive oponent's every move around the 3-point line -- then she attacked. Perry stole the ball, drew a foul and scored at the free throw line.

Senior Vivian Jackson assisted Best with a backdoor play for a layup. Hamilton blocked a Greene Central shot and assisted Best with two more points. Best drove the court and passed the ball to junior Dejah Thompson for a layup.

Eastern Wayne led 33-18 at halftime.

Freshman Myesha Best assisted senior Vivian Jackson with a jumper, and on the next possession, Best shot a 3-pointer which the lead to 15.

Junior Treycie Ford threw a long pass to Hamilton for a layup, and the Warriors started to run away from the Rams, 50-27, by the end of the third quarter.

Ford assisted Perry, who drew a foul. Perry sank both free throw shots. Jackson stole the ball, passed to senior Keirra Christie, who assisted Hamilton with two more points.

The Rams made a run.

Greene Central's Aniyah Jones shot a 2-pointer, and Alyssa Keats shot a jumper. Bnoke Wilson shot a 3-pointer, but minutes became seconds on the scoreboard.

Freshman Ziomara Williams, Thompson and Nyesha Best jumped for an offensive rebound, but sophomore Tammaria Smith grabbed the ball and put it in the basket to end the game.

Hamilton ended the game with 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Nyesha Best had a team-high 14 points, while Ford finished with 10 points.

Perry had five points and was 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Smith ended the game with nine points.

"We got 11 girls on the team," Gray said. "Every night, we're going to try to play 11 girls, so we're going to go from one to 11 every night. Everybody's gonna get in the game, trying to find the chemistry with everybody."

The Warriors (1-0 overall) play host to county rival Goldsboro on Wednesday.