Taking on a squad that reached the South State Championship in Class 3A last season, the 2A East Marion Lady Eagles got more than they bargained for Tuesday.
The Lady Eagles (2-4) made the short trek to Bassfield and were bested 63-39 by Jeff Davis County, which is led by former Columbia star Christina James.
The Lady Eagles committed 27 turnovers against just nine assists, and head coach Calvin Brown said Jeff Davis’ pressure defense was too much for East Marion to handle. He added while the Lady Jaguars do have more length than East Marion, they have a handful of quick, aggressive and scrappy guards who are tough to deal with.
“They just make you play fast, and our decision making was terrible,” he said. “That was our first time trying to play at pace, and they force you to play at their pace. We don’t really pass it well enough to try to slow them down, so we had to just deal with that.”
Brown said the Lady Eagles did try to simulate Jeff Davis’ pace in practice leading up to the matchup, but even in practice they weren’t passing well enough.
“That’s an area where there will always be room for improvement,” he said.
On top of the turnovers, the Lady Eagles shot just 29% from the field with their top two scorers going in, Destiny Brown and Lia Smith, combining to shoot just 2-of-18. However, despite the turnovers and poor shooting, it was a five-point game at halftime.
Dyani Weary led the way with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Smith had eight points and six rebounds and Ellen Porter, Azariyah Magee and Destiny Brown each had six points. Magee also had four steals and three assists.
“It was just one of those that progressively got worse,” Brown said. “But from a basketball standpoint, it will only make us better. From a pandemic standpoint, that’s still the cloud hanging over everybody. Day-to-day you don’t know when you’re going to get that call or have to make that call. That takes precedent over everything.”
While the Lady Eagles have yet to be affected by the coronavirus themselves, they have had multiple games canceled because of it. They were supposed to play West Marion Friday night, but the Lady Trojans are out until after Christmas.
East Marion is scheduled to play host to McComb Tuesday following the West Marion cancelation.
