The East Marion Lady Eagles (9-7, 3-0) took care of business on their home court Friday night, defeating Salem (1-14) 65-11.
East Marion held Salem scoreless in the first quarter while scoring 21 points, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Amber Willis led the Lady Eagles with 13 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting from the field to go along with a team-high seven steals. Tytianna Porter was a steady presence with 11 points and nine rebounds — seven offensive — while RaQquiya Haynes made 5-of-9 attempts for 10 points.
“We’re getting a little bit better every time we step on the floor,” head coach Calvin Brown said. “On the nights we’re good, we’re getting points from people other than Tytianna and Amber. I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon in order for us to beat a good team. We’re going to have to have other scoring options other than Tytianna and Amber.”
Dontajha Stepney was steady setting up the offense with eight points, five steals and three assists, and Dyani Weary (eight points) and Destiny Brown (seven points) showed the offense they could provide with extended minutes.
Those extended minutes Weary, Brown and other players who come off the bench have received during blowout victories could pay off big down the stretch.
“It’s very important,” coach Brown said. “We learned way back in November that we don’t have five (players) that can just carry us for four quarters against a good team. Our bench, to a certain degree, is going to dictate how far we go this season.”
The Lady Eagles hosted Stone Tuesday night in the start of a busy week, but results were not available at press time.
They will head to Hattiesburg Thursday night to play Sacred Heart in a makeup game, then to Lumberton Friday night. Brown recognizes the importance of the two district games this weekend.
“At Sacred Heart and at Lumberton is either going to have us as the clear-cut frontrunner or it’s going to create a race with the tree of us jockeying for position the rest of the way,” Brown said.
Both tipoffs are scheduled for 6 p.m.
Pictured Above: Amber Willis launches a three-pointer from the perimeter. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
