CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – After a one-hour delay in start time, Northeast girls basketball and Centennial took the floor. The Lady Cougars went through a brief warmup period before the game tipped off.
The Lady Eagles took complete advantage of Centennial’s sluggish start and coasted to a 66-37 win to improve to 1-1 on the young season.
Northeast girls basketball coach Tracie Mason-Blair believes the long Centennial bus ride may have had some bearing on the outcome of the game.
“I think so,” Mason-Blair said. “To get off the bus and have only 10 minutes to warm up and play would probably be hard on anybody.”
Cierra Bowser led all scorers with a game-high 24 points. Mason-Blair detailed the sophomore’s ability to finish in the paint, despite being a bit undersized.
“That’s what I love about her,” Mason-Blair said. “She’s not afraid to take it to the basket. She’s doing a better job of creating her own and getting to the rack. A lot of times she drives in and falls down. I’m trying to get her to learn when to and not to, but I can’t take going to the basket away from her.”
The Lady Eagles were quick to get out and run after every turnover they created on defense. Northeast pushed the pace and utilized exceptional transition offense to generate scoring.
“That’s what we were trying to do because we are small,” Mason-Blair said. “I told them our advantages are to use our speed and athleticism. As much as we can, we’re going to try and press people, create turnovers and score easy buckets.”
Adryanna Smith connected on a pair of 3-pointers and chipped in eight points while Alaya Smith added nine points. Emoni McCray also finished in double figures with 10 points for the Lady Eagles.
Harper Kline led the Lady Cougars with a team-high 14 points.
Northeast (1-1) travels to take on Kenwood Tuesday, Nov. 26 to open up District 10-AAA play.