NMCC soars past East Prairie in second half

NMCC outscored East Prairie 18-6 in the third quarter to win going away

NEW MADRID -- Lady Eagles could be found everywhere on the court in New Madrid County Monday night. The New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles soared past the Lady Eagles of East Prairie, 62-37.

The first half was a fairly close match-up between the two. NMCC was leading 18-12 at the end of one quarter. East Prairie would battle back though, and cut the lead to two, 26-24, and eventually went into half time only down by four, 28-24.

"The first half I thought we came out and played kind of sluggish and flat," NMCC head coach David Crockett said. "We went into half time and I kind of got a little attitude adjustment with them and we started playing a little harder on defense, which is what we have to do."

With a new attitude in mind, the Lady Eagles of NMCC stormed out of the locker room. They scored six unanswered points to start the half and outscored East Prairie 18-6 in the third quarter to take a 46-30 lead with only one more period left to play.

The storm continued to rage during the fourth quarter, as NMCC defense only allowed East Prairie seven more points.

"I thought we played really well the first half," East Prairie head coach Stephen Douglas said. "I thought the second half we got intimidated. We let them out-

work us on the boards. They got to all the loose balls and we didn't. The first half we blocked out and the second half we didn't."

NMCC was helped out in large part by sophomore Shameika Williams. Williams came up with two big 3-point conversions in the first half when East Prairie found a way to get within one or two points.

"She's a player," Crockett said. "If she ever learns how good she is and works harder in practice, she's going to be even better.

Williams led all Lady Eagles with 29 points and was 5-10 from the free throw line.

"She's the one we got to have," Crockett continued. "We got to have her night in and night out and she's got to play like she did tonight."

Jasmine Flennoy chipped in with 15 points for NMCC. Flennoy was 1-3 from the free throw line.

East Prairie was led by Rianon Thresher who scored 12 points and Grace Swann added 10 points.

"When you play a half of a game and your within four points, it's kind of frustrating when you end up losing by 25," Douglas said. "Unfortunately, we only have one win on the season and these kinds of things don't help us very much for the next ball game."

"We're struggling, but as long as the girls keep working we'll get through this eventually."

East Prairie will try to put another "W" in he win column when they host Egyptian tonight at 6 p.m. New Madrid County Central (6-10) will also be at home on Thursday, when they will play the Charleston Lady Bluejays.

The East Prairie Lady Eagles pulled out a victory in junior varsity action Monday night, slipping past New Madrid County, 43-37.

East Prairie held a 20-11 lead at the half, due to Jennifer Nicholson's 10 first half points. Nicholson ended up with 13 points on the night. Megan Hedges was the leading scorer for East Prairie with 14 points.

The home Lady Eagles Shanequa Daniels, led all scorers with 24 points on the night. Brittany Johnson chipped in with 7 points.