NMCC rebounds with 74-42 win over East Prairie

sports@standard-democrat.com

NEW MADRID -- Following a dreadful 61-50 loss to Class 1 Naylor on Saturday, the New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles bounced back in a big way on Monday taking care of the East Prairie Lady Eagles 74-42.

"We definitely came out with more intensity and energy than we did Saturday," NMCC head coach David Crockett said. "That's the way we have to play. We can't decide which nights we're going to play hard. We have to come play hard every night from the start."

The Lady Eagles took heed to their coaches advice and burned out of the gate to put an early end to visiting East Prairie.

NMCC scored the games first five points. East Prairie sophomore Caitlyn Harwell knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 5-3 in favor of NMCC. NMCC, however, scored the next 25 consecutive points beating East Prairie in transition on almost every occasion.

"The game was over in the first quarter," East Prairie head coach Steven Douglas said. "They beat us in transition and we didn't get back. They rebounded the ball and they beat us end to end, rather than us turning the ball over.

"Unfortunately, we've had a bad habit of playing poor first quarters. This is the wrong team to play a poor first quarter against."

With NMCC getting to the basket quicker and more often than the visiting Lady Eagles, NMCC shot 11 of 22 (50 percent) from the floor in the first quarter where they ended up leading 24-3.

"When we get transition points and we get rolling, it's like a train," Crockett said.

Juniors Benesha Childress and Dallas Campbell both drained 3-pointers to begin the second quarter giving NMCC a 30-3 advantage.

East Prairie's Rebekah Douglas finally put an end to their 6:42 scoring drought with a stick back early in the frame.

NMCC went on to outscore East Prairie 18-13 in the second quarter and led 42-16.

NMCC (10-6) shot 47 percent in the first half on 19 of 40 shooting. East Prairie went 5 of 20 (25 percent).

"They didn't miss a lot of shots," said Douglas, "and we didn't. Our shots were flat, rushed and we missed layups. We got behind in a hurry."

On top of East Prairie's struggles of keeping up with the quicker and more athletic NMCC Lady Eagles, they had trouble scoring outside of Harwell and Douglas.

Harwell led East Prairie (4-9) with 25 points while Douglas added 13, which included 10 in the second half. East Prairie only received two more field goals from two other players.

"We've had a problem all year with having just two scorers," Douglas said. "You can't win a ball game with just two scorers."

NMCC junior Karen McGloson led her squad with 18 points while Childress chipped in 17. Campbell added another 12 points for NMCC and sophomore Whitney Williams scored 11.

NMCC will play Sikeston on Saturday during the Charleston Lady Bluejays Cancer Shootout at Charleston High School. East Prairie travels to Caruthersville on Thursday.

East Prairie 3 13 12 14 -- 42

NMCC 24 18 18 14 -- 74

EAST PRAIRIE (42) -- Courtney Carden 2, Rebekah Douglas 13, Caitlyn Harwell 25, Kailey Turner 2. FG 15 FT 6-9 F 14 (3-pointers: Douglas 1, Harwell 5. Fouled out: Turner.)

NMCC (74) -- Ebonni Adway 1, Dallas Campbell 12, Amirah Ruff 5, Audra Porter 5, Whitney Williams 11, Aqwanness Johnson 2, Benesha Childress 17, Karen McGloson 18, Rashauda Summers 3. FG 31 FT 6-13 F 11 (3-pointers: Campbell 2, Ruff 1, Porter 1, Childress 2. Fouled out: none.)