Statesville's early-season schedule looks to be as strong as advertised.
East Meck, a strong 4A program, wore Statesville down and beat the Greyhounds 74-48 in Tuesday's season-opener.
The Eagles (1-0) opened the game on a 16-1 run and pulled away for good in the third quarter.
"I thought we played hard," Statesville coach Todd Jones said. "We just didn't execute. But you see things that we can work on in practice and get better at. … We have a lot to work on."
Breaking the press tops the list.
East Meck, with athletes all over the court, forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter when it implemented full-court pressure.
It didn't help that Statesville senior Janitsha Williams was whistled for two fouls in the first two minutes and relegated to the bench for most of the first quarter.
"They gave us a lot of problems with their press," Jones said. "Again, we didn't execute with things we've worked on. We know we're going to get pressed, there's no doubt about that. I'll take the blame, too, because obviously I thought we were more prepared."
Once Williams got back in the game, though, she was tough to slow down.
She finished with a game-high 22 points, including nine in the second quarter that got Statesville closer.
She rebounded a missed desperation 3-pointer by Simone Parker and flipped it up into the basket just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
It brought Statesville to within seven points, but East Meck outscored the Greyhounds 31-14 in the third period to pull away.
In addition to Williams, Parker finished with 11 points.
Virginia Tech signee Monet Tellier finished with 17 points and eight rebounds and Aliyah Kilpatrick added 17 for East Meck, which had four players in double figures.
Kilpatrick, a sophomore, was especially effective handling the ball.
"She's just learning the point position," Eagles coach Brady Monismith. "We had an all-conference point guard for four years who graduated. Of course, Statesville knows how that is, too."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement