NMCC girls basketball soars past East Prairie

Two teams had 59 combined turnovers in game

sd_sports@yahoo.com

NEW MADRID -- Straight off of the opening tip of Monday's game, a turnover was committed. Thirty-two minutes later, 59 turnovers between both New Madrid County Central and East Prairie had taken place, but the Lady Eagles from NMCC took the win 75-48 as they maintained control more often than their opponent.

"The style we play, as a coach, you've got to accept some turnovers," said NMCC coach David Crockett. "We're going to get some steals and we're going to get some offensive rebounds and stuff, that's just the way we play. We're athletic, we're fast and we don't always make the smartest decisions at times but that is going to come with time."

NMCC turned the ball over 24 times but that didn't stop the Lady Eagles from dominating the game as East Prairie gave the ball away 35 times on the night.

"They out-hustled us," said East Prairie coach Steven Douglas. "They beat us to every loose ball, every rebound and they beat us to every loose pass. They out-hustled us.

"The girls didn't play with any effort or any pride. We got beat in every facet of the ball game. That's the thing that disappoints me."

NMCC didn't waste any time, taking it to East Prairie from the opening tip, building a 15-2 advantage and leading 24-8 after one quarter.

East Prairie battled back and a conventional 3-point play from Rianon Thresher cut the NMCC lead to 30-21 with 1:46 left in the first half. NMCC buckled down however and led 38-24 at halftime. The second half was more of the same as East Prairie could never get the NMCC lead under 10 points the rest of the game.

Jasmine Flennoy led NMCC in scoring with 21 points, dominating the paint for the Lady Eagles.

"She's capable of doing that every night, it's just a matter of her doing it," Crockett said. "I've been preaching for her to do that for three years every night, and when she comes to play like that we're hard to beat."

Freshman Benasha Childress added 18 points for NMCC while fellow freshman Karen McGloson added 10.

"(Childress) is making some freshman mistakes out there but she does some things athletically that are hard to play against," Crockett said. "She can change the game in a heartbeat."

"(McGloson) started off really good early in the year and she backed off a little bit but she's starting to pick it up again at the right time of the year for us."

Tameika Williams and Brittany Johnson also scored in double figures for NMCC, adding 12 and 11 points respectively.

East Prairie was led by Rianon Thresher's 16 points while Jennifer Nicholson added 14.

With the loss, East Prairie is now 6-6 and will host Caruthersville tomorrow before playing Meadow Heights Thursday and Greenville Saturday.

"It's a bad week to be off our game," Douglas said.

NMCC improves to 7-7 and will host Sikeston Thursday.

"We're getting closer to district play and we're looking to get better every single day we are on this floor whether in practice or a game," Crockett said.

East Prairie 8 16 13 11 -- 48

NMCC 24 14 17 20 -- 75

EAST PRAIRIE (48) -- Mandy Knupp 3, Lydia Chance 4, Caitlyn Lindsey 1, Skyler Archie 2, Grace Swann 8, Rianon Thresher 16, Jennifer Nicholson 14. FG 19, FT 8-22, F 10. (3-pointers: Swann 2. Fouled out: none).

NMCC (75) -- Tynisha Brown 1, Brittany Johnson 11, Tameika Williams 12, Ebonni Adway 2, Benesha Childress 18, Jaimane Flennoy 21, Karen McGloson 10. FG 33, 5-10, F 17. (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Williams 1. Fouled out: McGloson).