2004

What a week for East Ce11tral \VOillen claim Regio11 23 championship., prepare for national tOllrney

Lady . Warriors!

jumper putting the Lady Warriors ahead for good. "They controlled the tempo," Hodge said of Co-Lin. which fell for the third time to ECCC and fimshed 19-9. "'The) did what they had to do to give themt-clves a chance. I've really got to g1vc it to our girls and our dcfen~rve effort.·· By halft1me. East Central was up 30-21 And although Co-Lin got with– m four pomts on tv.o separate occa–

By ROCKY HIGGINBOTHAM Sport\ l:.ditnr Simply put. Brad Hodge had legit– IIDalt: IAOrrie~ that his Ea~t Cemral Community College women's team might not be able to keep its momen– tum fo1 a second \Lralght week head– ing into the JCAA Region 23 Ba~­ ketball foumament. But the Lady Waniors, frc!>h off

"Hopefull). we can go out there and get on a favorable l>ide ol the bracket ... anything can haJ2pcn," Hodge said. "What this team has done m the p~t couple of weeks is prett} amanng:· ECCC will be one of 16 teams in the national tourney. and will be mak– ing its second appearance in four year:,. Traditional power Co-Lin. which made the tnp to Kan!>as in 2002. did it!. best to knock off ECCC in last Thur~day\ finab.

their tirst ~tate-title \\inning performance m 25 ) cars. put tho.-.e wornes to rest with three more wins in a four– day 'tretch. Ea~t Central stormed through the Region 23 tour· ney at the A.E. Wood Colt– scum at M.tss1~s1pp1 College m Chnton. smokmg natiOn– ally-ranked NorthcaM Mis– sissippi and two other oppo– nent~ on its way to dinch.tng a berth in the upcoming national tournament. The Lady Wamors. who have now won 22 stra.tght game~. opened Region 23 play with a 66 53 victory over \i1ssissipp1 Ddta laM Monday. In Wednesday's much-anticipated show down \\ ith s1xth-ranked Xorthea,t. East Central rolled to a 92-67 victory:

sions in the second half (41- 37 and 46-42), the Lady Warriors got free throws from Kotrecce Bender and Kristen Chaney down the stretch to seal the win. Chancy finished with 14 po1(1ts, while Lenore Gray had seven points and 11 rebounds Bender also had seven pomts. Rita Birden had six poinrs and seven boards and Klmyatta Viverette yanked dov ..n eight rebounds. Renee F1clds led Co-Lin w1th 14 points. Travalyn Smith scored 12 and Gloria Lewis 10 • East Central 92, Northeast Mississippi 67: There were tons of people hopmg for a matchup of these two nationally-ranked

Gray

The Lady Wolves slowed the tempo to the1r liking and were up I0- 3 deep into the first half. But Ea.~! Central scored the next 12 points to take a 15-10 lead. with Britney Burks' The result \\as a 1~-0 run to start the rame. which quickly turned mto a blowout. The Lady Warriors led 45-26 at halftime and were up by as many as 38 pomts before 1t was over. Northeast outscored East Central 21-10 after Hodge emptied his bench - but was still beaten b} 25 pomb. "What a start," he l>ald. "lt helped -lake a lillie pressure off the offense X and our defense." _.L..,;._ _ _ Lenore Gray. who had 25 pomts m - ---–

Chaney

teams the previous week in the MACJC State Tournament on North– cast's home floor. But the sixth-ranked Lady Tigers were upset in an earl)-round state toume) game. and ECCC coasted to the <>tate champton htp. B) last Wcdncsda) attemoon. Eru.t Central"s ladies were literally licking their chopl> to get a shot at Northeast. "There wasn"t much motivation t9 give this g10up," Hodge said. "This team is competiU\e enough .. we did– n't ha\ e to challenge them."

then won the title by gutting out a 52- 45 \\in over Copiah-Lincoln in Thurs– day's champtOnl>hlJ> game. "[ think it's a real tribute to these girls and the chem1stl) this team has." Hodge said of the Lad) \\arrior-.. ~Abo :9 2 uahfied for the A Di\ ,1on I ~auonal Tourna– ment that ruru. March 16-20. East Central, wh1ch wa~ ranked 17lh Ill !he nat10n 10 the most rl!centl) av :Ulable poll. \\ill learn todav \\hen it \\ill pia) tn !he nauonal t0umament in Saltna. Kan -a place \\here 1\h ~IS· -.tppt teanh trndll!onall) ha' c not fared \\.Cll.

the lin;t half alone, wound up with 30 points. 10 rebounds and five steals to pace ECCC Kim Cox talhed ll pomts. Viverene had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Bender also scored l0. Chaney and Birden chipped in ctght points each and Monique Over– street scored '>IX See ECCC, page 4B