BASKETBALL: WCDS girls roll in season opener

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on November 13, 2016 9:40 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

Wayne Country Day head coach David Flowers knows his girls' team is still learning how to master the fundamentals.

But against Terra Ceia Friday night, the Chargers appeared to be dishing out the lessons in a dominant 57-23 victory over the Knights.

"We set the tempo early," Flowers said. "We were able to get the first-game jitters out quickly and get out and run a little bit, and pressure some."

WCDS scored the first 13 points of the game, and eventually pushed the score to 31-8 by halftime. No Knights player could dribble or shoot without having swarming hands in her face.

Jala Holloman outscored the Knights 11-8 in the first half. She finished with a game-high 15 points. Lexi Jeffreys added 12 points. Overall, 10 different Chargers scored in the game.

Only four Knights tallied a bucket. Catherine Meijer led Terra Ceia with eight points. Teammates Ashley James and Morgan Respess each hit two 3-pointers.

Flowers said that Holloman, Jeffreys and Lily Freeman will be the primary targets on the offensive end this season. However, he does believe there are multiple players on the team who can provide a lift if the go-to scorers are having an uncharacteristic game.

"We have guards that are so quick up top," Flowers said. "Like Janae (Jones), Jasmine (Jones), TT (Ramsey). Even Hannah (Neal) comes in and Beverly (Tabe) comes in and hits a couple of shots. I mean, it's really weird. You just don't know who is going to do what."

Even in a blowout win, Flowers said he can always find ways to make his team better, and Friday night's mismatch was no different.

He knows that next week's games will provide much tougher matchups, and that the girls will be challenged to maintain their fundamentals.

"The biggest thing I told them was to not get bad habits," Flowers said. "Not necessarily critiquing them on 'You did this wrong', just don't create bad habits because next week is brutal for us. We play Neuse (Christian) who is very good, and the Burlington School is very good.

"It will cost us if we make those mistakes."