By Jamie Wachter

executive sports editor

 

SCOOBA – How Bad!

That was the message on East Mississippi Community College men’s basketball coach Mark White’s dry-erase board before Monday’s MACJC North Division showdown against Itawamba Community College at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

Turns out the Lions wanted it bad enough to overcome 34 percent shooting and 19 turnovers in edging the Indians 54-51.

“When we play each other, it’s going to be a tough, hard-fought game,” White said. “That’s just the way it is. It wasn’t a pretty game, but

“I told them before they went out tonight, that this game wasn’t going to come down to X’s and O’s, it wasn’t going to come down to physical attributes, it was going to come down to toughness, heart and playing smart.”

EMCC, which improved to 13-2 and 3-0 in the North, had made just 1 of 17 3-pointers before freshman Anthony Alexander drained one with 1:19 remaining to break a 50-all tie. Alexander, who entered averaging 13.8 points per game, scored 10.

“I don’t know, we’ve got good shooters,” White said. “I don’t know. We’re shooting only like 22 percent on 3’s. I don’t know, we just can’t make them.

“Shooting is something you just can’t talk about. They already think about it enough. If you talk about it, it’ll get in their heads more.”

Against Itawamba (9-5, 2-1), though, the Lions’ shooting was off. Sophomore CoCo Ware led EMCC with 12 points, six below his season average. The guard hit a 3-pointer on the Lions’ first possession of the second half for EMCC’s other long ball.

Following Ware’s 3-pointer, the Lions stretched their lead to 35-28 less than six minutes later on a bucket from Meridian High product Donovan Walker. However, the Indians would battle back, tying the score at 36 on a Wesley McIntosh bucket with 9:43 remaining. McIntosh, who paced ICC with 12 points, finished the three-point play with a free throw to give Itawamba the lead.

The teams would battle back-and-forth, with nobody grabbing a lead larger than four points the rest of the way to set up Alexander’s late 3.

Southeast Lauderdale product Marino Thompson added eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds for the Lions. Itawamba received 11 points from Jeremy Word and 10 from Vincenzo Nelson.

 

EMCC women   68

Itawamba            57

 

Last season, the East Mississippi Community College women won the Region 23 title behind its stout defensive play.

Against North leading Itawamba on Monday, the Lions flashed that defensive prowess again. Buoyed by a swarming defense to close the first half, EMCC (8-6, 2-1) broke open a back-and-forth battle. Itawamba fell to 9-6, 2-1.

Trailing 19-17 after ICC’s Vetorra Cole connected with 8:17 remaining in the half, the Lions’ Natalie Tate drained her second 3-pointer 11 seconds later to give EMCC the lead for good. In the next seven minutes, the Lions would allow just two Itawamba baskets to open a 36-24 lead.

“I’ve been preaching to them all year that we have to play better defense,” EMCC coach Sharon Thompson said. “To me, the biggest reason we had the success we did last year was we played defense. We flat out played defense last year. We don’t have that same vibe on defense that we did last year.

“If we do that, we may get our goal. Our goal is to go 12-0 the rest of the way. If we play defense, we may do that, but it won’t be easy.”

Leading EMCC’s attack during that stretch was Tate. The 5-foot-4 freshman guard poured in 16 of her game-high 22 in the opening half.

“She hadn’t shot it like that in awhile,” Thompson said. “She shot the ball good tonight, real good.

“She’s an offensive player, but I’m trying to get her to see that if she does this every night, she can score like that. She can score off the drive, she can pull up and shoot, she can shoot 3’s good. So, you have to be ready to defend her. If she doesn’t rush things, if she’s patient like she was tonight, she’s a real good player.”

The Indians, though, started to close early in the second half, pulling within 40-35 less than four minutes in on a Birdie Bowens’ 3-pointer. Behind sophomore forward Martika Hull, EMCC gradually pulled back away. The former Southeast Lauderdale star led the Lions with 16 rebounds and added 14 points, eight coming after the break.

“We’ve been saying from Day One that our season would go as Martika goes,” Thompson said. “As of right now, it’s been up and down. Our season goes as Martika goes.

“She had a real good game tonight, so hopefully that continues.”

The Lions stretched their lead to 62-47 with 6:47 left on a Eryn Gray 3-pointer.  EMCC also got 12 points from Nashedra Barry, while Itawamba was led by Lori Crudup’s 14 and Mandy Collins’ 13. Bowens added 11 for the Indians.