Lady Wildcats cruise past Pine Bluff for first win of season

By Tony Burns

Sports Editor

El Dorado’s girls basketball team needed a win Tuesday. They got one and in a big way, blowing out Pine Bluff 63-18 at Wildcat Arena to even their record at 1-1.

The Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 20-2 lead and were never threatened.

“It definitely feels a lot better than it felt Saturday. Saturday, we were disappointed in our execution and our game plan,” El Dorado coach Destinee Rogers said of the benefit-game loss to West Memphis. “We really went to practice and worked hard and focused on having a sense of urgency. I didn’t feel like we had a sense of urgency at all on Saturday. That was our focus (Monday) in practice and I feel like we brought that energy and that focus tonight. I’m proud of them.”

El Dorado’s defensive pressure overwhelmed Pine Bluff’s ball handlers. Offensively, the Lady Wildcats spread the wealth among several players, including sophomore Hannah Turbeville, who came off the bench to score nine points in about four minutes.

“It feels great especially when you get that kid who comes in and scores nine points,” Rogers said. “Hannah knocked down two threes and, it doesn’t show up in the scorebook, but she made some nice passes to get some other people a bucket or two. It feels good to get those young ones out there and get their feet wet. It also feels good to give our starters a little break because we’ve got a tough schedule this week.”

El Dorado led 24-3 after one quarter and 39-11 at the half. The margin was 52-13 going into the fourth quarter, which was played with a running clock due to the sportsmanship rule.

Tasia Richardson paced the Lady Wildcats with 13 points with Breya Clark adding 10. Grace Murry scored seven on 5-of-6 shooting at the line.

“I’m proud of Tasia. She really came out tonight and I thought she was positive. I thought she was the leader we expect her to be. She scored the basketball. She got people involved,” said Rogers.

“I’m super proud of Breya. We’ve been looking for her to be that aggressive. For her to come out and get 10 points is huge for her. I thought Diamond (Hawthorne) and Jessica (Morton) did great on the boards. They did well defensively. And, it was good for Grace to knock down some free throws. That was good for her.

“I’m just proud of the whole team. We did not have a good showing Friday or Saturday. For them to come out and be focused and execute, it makes a coach feel good.”

El Dorado travels to Shreveport to take on C.E. Byrd Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

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