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Chairwomen of the Boards: Lewisville owns the glass in 48-31 win over East
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
It took a month for the Lewisville girls basketball team to get their first win.
Now, they have back-to-back victories.
The Lady Farmers (2-12) picked up another win Friday night against former District 8-5A running mate Plano East, 48-31, thanks to a dominating 45-16 advantage on the glass.
East (7-9) could have used such opportunities as it was cold most of the night.
"I don't need to look at the stats to know this was probably our lowest shooting percentage of the season from all parts of the court," said LaGwenna Morrow, East head coach.
The combination of poor East shooting and Lewisville's rebounding control led to an 11-5 Lady Farmers lead after one quarter. That advantage jumped to 21-5 early in the second as Lewisville broke off 10 straight points with back-to-back buckets from senior Ashley Campbell, who had seven points, and a putback by senior Jada Butts.
"Versus those taller teams, the fundamentals are big," Morrow said. "And those second chances and second shot attempts really hurt us."
So did Butts.
While the senior scored eight points, she was most effective on the boards with almost as many rebounds (15) as the East team.
"Just having Jada on the floor keeps us balanced," Jones said. "But she has also been playing really well and continually sacrifices for the betterment of the team."
East, meanwhile, had trouble breaking the Lewisville defense. And when the Lady Panthers did so, their shots were often unsuccessful, allowing the Lady Farmers to take their largest lead of the half at 27-9 after Campbell made a basket and then drew a charge.
"You get so proud of the girls when they run the offense or are able to penetrate," Morrow said, "but then you're disappointed when they miss the shot."
Some of that can be chalked up to inexperience.
East was already light on returners to start the season and that has gotten worse with senior Celina Eddins no longer on the team and senior Jasmine Caston nursing a ligament strain.
"We're thinking Jasmine will be cleared in time for the Christmas tournaments," Morrow said. "And we definitely think she'll be back by district."
Without Caston, East has been relying on a cast of players new to varsity. None of them reached double figures Friday, but sophomore Doneesha Corbin came the closest with nine points. That included six straight points for East in the second quarter.
"Corbin has been very solid, very consistent for us since she came up to varsity," Morrow said. "If I could get everyone to catch the Corbin train, we'd be fine."
East got four points from juniors Azia Lacy, Lyntoria Watson, sophomore Tyra Gatson and freshman Daria McCutcheon. Warren also led the Lady Panthers with eight rebounds while Gatson hit a shot at the buzzer to bring her team within 31-17 at the half.
East would never get within 12 points in the second half though.
This despite 35 Lewisville turnovers, 21 of which came in the final two quarters. East only scored three points in the third though and trailed, 39-20, going into the final frame.
"We got good pressure going on defense," Morrow said, "we just couldn't finish offensively."
"We've been battling with turnovers all season," Jones added. "That has played a big part in the majority of our losses, so we've been talking with the girls about staying patient and executing."
Lewisville did enough of that, especially on the glass, to close out the 48-31 victory. The Lady Farmers got six points and five boards from freshman Naomi Hawkins, five points from junior Elizabeth Simon and four points and six rebounds from senior Precious Agu in the win, their second straight.
"This bunch has a lot of potential," Jones said. "And they are starting to play with more confidence and depend on each other."
Lewisville returns to action at 7 p.m. Monday when it hosts Rowlett while East is on the road at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Hebron.
"You can't always sugarcoat everything by saying we have until January when district starts," Morrow said. "We are young and sometimes the learning curve goes with the intensity of the game, but our intensity was not there when the ball was jumped tonight."
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