Sanderson girls basketball
Sanderson freshman (21) Derricka Lewis races to the basket on a fastbreak Monday against Cary.
First-half run powers
Lady Spartans over Imps
Watching his Sanderson girls basketball team come out lethargic in the first quarter of Monday's non-conference match-up with Cary, Marcus Davis did what any coach might do: he pulled his starters.
"We came out flat, and the intensity level was pretty low," he explained later. "I subbed out out all five starters, and let them do some thinking on the bench."
The ploy worked because once Derricka Lewis, Dawshawa Smith and Company re-entered the contest, the Lady Spartans found their rhythm, and thumped the Imps in the process.
Starting with a Donjernica Jones rebound and putback with three minutes remaining in the first, Sanderson scored 23 of the game's next 28 points, leading to a lopsided 45-22 victory.
While Jones provided the spark, it was Lewis, who kept the Lady Spartans sizzling. The ninth-grader dropped in 16 points of her game-high 18 points during the run, and Sanderson had a 25-14 advantage at the half.
"When I put our starters back in the game, they were ready to play," Davis said.
As for his fantastic freshman Lewis, the coach added, "she is going to be a special player."
But then pointed out she missed a couple point-blank shots, which she'll need to practice.
Click here for highlights of the Sanderson/Cary girls basketball game.
With Lewis leading the way, Smith chipped in 10 points, Erica Brownlow added five and Jones finished with four.
While Davis was obviously pleased with the Lady Spartans' first-half run, Sanderson's defensive intensity stood out to him even more.
The Lady Spartans limited the Imps to just three third-quarter points, and when Smith nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:20 left in the period, Sanderson pushed ahead 32-16. Davis' squad never looked back after that, and the Lady Spartans (4-4) cruised to their fourth win of the season.
"I challenged them at halftime to step up our defense, I wanted them to turn up the pressure, and they did," the Sanderson coach explained.
The victory comes on the heels of a disappointing 78-60 loss at Wakefield last week, and right before Friday's rivalry match-up with Millbrook. Davis said he understood his squad was preoccupied — not that the excuse was OK.
"I think we may have been looking past Cary and looking toward Friday," he said. "But I told them we had to take care of this one first."
Besides bragging rights, there are plenty of other interesting implications in Friday's showdown with the Wildcats. Millbrook is 6-2 right now, and if the Lady Spartans want to contend in the Cap-7 Conference, a victory is a must.
"That's going to be a big game, I'm sure the crowd will be little rowdy," Davis said. "The records go out the door Friday, and the winner will be whoever wants it the worst. This is what we play for."
The Lady Spartans' home game against Millbrook tips off at 5:30 p.m., with the boys' match-up to follow at 7 p.m.
Dashawna Smith (10) looks to get off a shot in the paint Monday night.
