2015

East Central falls to Itawamba in Region 23 tc

By Reed DeSalvo rdesalvo@themeridianstar.com

CLINTON - Trailing by 14 points with five minutes remaining, East Central Community College stormed back to cut the defi cit to two points, but ran out of steam as the Lady Warriors fell to Itawamba Community Col– lege 90-85 at the Region 23 tournament Thursday. "I thought down the stretch we didn't execute well enough," East Central coach Crandal Porter said. "I though t we did some good things, but you have to give Itawamba a Jot of credit; they're a well-coached team, with a lot of great playe rs and poise." East Central (20-6) led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and controlled a seven point h alftime advan– tage. However, the Lady Warriors squande red its advan– tage, as the Lady Indians managed to take a 59-56 lead eight minutes into the second half. "A lot of Otwamba guard) Jayla Chills happened," Porter said. "I don't think we were as active in our press. We should have gotten out of it and gave them a different look, and I take responsibility for that; that's my fault. They made halftime adjustments, and I didn't make one." Chills led Itwamba with 25 points. Sophomore Tashi-Ana Thompson led East Central with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, and dished out six assists, while Sh akerya Morrison had 18 points and 18 rebounds. "We're about fight," Porter said. ''We'll fight until the end . We never think it's over, especially our five sopho– mores. "(Thompson) never thinks sh e's taking a bad shot, and she's a scorer. She got us back in it, and, again, I thought once we got back in it, we didn't execute well See BAST CENTRAL on page B2---------

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their final games in an Eas t Central uniform. "East Central basketball is on the way up," Porter said. "Our goal is to win a national champi– on ship, and I think we ar e going to do that because of those five sophomores. They 're the pillars

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of the program. Whatever it is ~hat we have right now, they built I t. "The task is findi ng some kids that a re as tough, dedicated and unselfish, and doing all those things as well as these sopho– mores."

enough down the stretch." With the loss, Thompson and Morrison, alongside fellow sopho– mores Tynika Bender, Breona Foster and Jleshia Jones played

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