2004

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ECCC • WIOS crown By Will-Bardwell staff wnter BOONEVILLE- Less than 10 min– utes removed from East Central Com– munity College's first state champi– onship if1 25 years, all Brad Hodge could think about was an automobile advertisement. "It's like that old over Jones Junior College in the MACJC Tournament finals on Thursday night at Northeast Missis– sippi Community College. East Central led by double digits for most of the game but had to weather a handful of threatening runs from the Lady Bobcats, who fell to 14- 13 for the season. The Lady Warriors lost the ball just 13 times. "Sometimes we were making passes just to get rid of the ball," said Iones head coach Sandra Sumrall. East Central did a heck of a job on us." The Lady Warriors led 66-52 with Toyota commercial - 'Oh, what a feeling,"' East Cen– tral's head coach said after his Lady Warriors' 73-64 win

But Kri-stin Chaney breathed life back into East Central when the team needed it most. With 49 seconds left in the game and just four seconds on the shot clock, Chaney drove inside and drained a critical off-balance one– handed layup - and drew Brittany Baham·s fifth foul. The infraction sent Baham, the Lady Bobcats' most dangerous post player. out of the game. Chaney's free throw gave the Lady Warriors a 72-64 lead and snuffed Jones' comeback hopes. "Chaney was able to put a dagger in their hearts," Hodge said. "She alone made all the stops on their runs. She's got a champion's heart, and you can't teach that. Thank goodness she's on our team." Chaney, who .finished with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, was one of three Lady Warriors in double figures. Lenore Gray Jed East Central with 22 points, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor, and Kotreece Bender had 14 points.

"We knew we were going to have to try to raise the game's tempo," said Hodge, whose team took advantage of 24 Jones turnovers. "Our press makes us lively. It got us going." After the game, Sumrall was reluctant to blame her team's woes on weariness. "I hate to use it (fatigue) as an excuse," Sumrall said. "We were able to cut it to five , but then we made a couple of mis- gap with two three-pointers and two three-point plays. Brittany Martin's jumper from behind . the arc with 20 seconds left ~ brought the Lady Bobcats within five points - East Cen- 1 tral's smallest advantage since . a 9-5 lead three minutes into • the game. l "We just weren't communi- : eating defensively, and they f attacked our weaknesses," Hodge said. "They're a well– coached team.''

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Baham and Natalie Jordan shared game-high honors with 23 points apiece for Jones. East Central, now 26-2 on the season, enjoyed about five more hours of rest than Jones after Wednesday's semifinals games. The LadyWarriors fin– ished playing Wednesday at 2:45 p.m., while the Lady Bob– cats had to wait until 6 p.m. to East Central, ranked No. 17 in the country according to the latest NJCM poll, led 35-30 at halftime but was up by as many as 16 during the first half. The Lady Warriors led 20-7 midway through the period, and a Lenore Gray put-back with 3:24 to go gave East Central a 32-16 advantage;< But the Lady Warriors nms– tered only one more first-half field goal, and Jones closed the tip off. takes."

5:40 left in the game when Kimyatta Viverette dropped in a layup after coming away with one of her team's 15 steals. It was East Cen– ~ral's last field goal tor nearly five min– utes. Jones mounted

It's like that old Toyota commercial - 'Oh, what a feeling.'

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Ecce coach the last of its runs, Brad Hodge outscoring the Lady Warriors 12-3 to come within five points with 1:16 remaining. ·

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