The Lady Eagles’ dreams of getting back to Jackson and the Final Four came to a screeching halt on their home court Friday night.
East Marion (18-10) struggled with Vardaman’s defensive pressure in its half-court offense and committed 29 turnovers in a 42-38 second-round loss.
Head coach Calvin Brown said there were two ways the Lady Eagles could have won the game. The first was to cut down on the 29 turnovers. Brown said if they could have shaved that down to 20, made three of those nine extra shots and given Vardaman nine less possessions in the process then they would have won the game. The second way Brown noted was the Lady Eagles had eight shots that he could specifically remember that they should have made — three layups, three clean jump shots Destiny Brown had and two mid-range shots.
“They just didn’t go down. There were no bad shots; I have no disappointment in the shot selection. If two or three of those go down, I think we fight them off,” he said. “At the end of the day, I just gave Vardaman a lot of credit. It was two evenly matched teams.”
Brown added both squads took advantage of the other’s weakness — Vardaman capitalizing on turnovers and East Marion using its depth against just a five-girl rotation — but Vardaman made more plays when it mattered most.
“I’m more inclined to give them credit than I am to beat ourselves over the head about what we didn’t do,” he said. “We were who we were, and it’s amazing how well we overcame that to the tune of 18 wins and a district championship. Turning it over 20 times a night is usually a recipe for a losing season and an early exit.”
Destiny Brown led East Marion with 11 points but also had nine turnovers. RaQquiya Haynes added 10 points, Lia Smith contributed seven and Tytianna Porter was held to just six.
Brown said the seniors, Porter, Haynes, McKinley Johnson and Cassidy Sanders, are trailblazers and left a legacy the Lady Eagles can build on for getting East Marion to the top of the district and on the statewide map.
“That’s what I’ll remember most about them, and they did it with such an elegance. They’re classy,” he said. “They’re homecoming queens, class presidents, football maids and scholars. They’re the total package and exemplify everything we want our program to be about. And they’re irreplaceable.”
While the Lady Eagles will undoubtedly have a change in their identity next season, Brown said he believes they will continue to have success.
“Ty was obviously the top gun, and the way she did it was murdering you on the offensive glass and beating you down the floor. Next year we’ll have to go about it a different way,” he explained. “It will be more guard oriented with Destiny, Azariyah (Magee), Kaitlyn Echols and Sarah Beach as people we expect to step up.”
Lia Smith and Dyani Weary will lead the frontcourt next season, and Brown said if the Lady Eagles do the work necessary between now and November they will be fine.
Pictured Above: East Marion senior Azariyah Magee passes to a teammate against Vardaman Friday night. | Photo by Charlie Smith
