Warriors' defense pays off in 2nd half

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 25, 2014 1:48 PM

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Would a season loaded with high expectations end in disappointing fashion Monday evening?

It sure seemed so for one half.

Eastern Wayne struggled to finish shots around the basket and displayed the frustration that's bothered it for the last 21/2 weeks. But a slight defensive adjustment and a second-half determination kept the Warriors alive in the postseason.

Shontel Monk delivered a key, third-period performance and Mierra Reid pumped in a team-high 11 points during a come-from-behind, 46-38 triumph over Southern Lee in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A girls' basketball playoffs.

The seventh-seeded Warriors (12-8 overall) entertain 10th-seeded Cardinal Gibbons on Wednesday. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

"I don't know (why) we always have a slow start," said EW junior guard Megan Mozingo, who scored eight points, pulled down three rebounds and blocked a shot.

"We just realized this is it ... now or never."

The Warriors opened in a zone defense and the Cavaliers (11-13) quickly developed an offensive rhythm. They worked the ball around the perimeter, fired off screens and created a couple of mismatches on occasion that led to open looks at the basket.

Jordanna Kalkhof's second 3-pointer gave Southern Lee an 8-1 lead just four minutes into the game. Eastern Wayne, which missed its first seven shot attempts, burned a quick timeout.

Mozingo and her teammates asked Gray if they could abandon the zone defense and switch to man-to-man. The Warriors chipped away at the deficit and took their first lead, 14-12, on Reid's basket off of Naheria Hamilton's offensive rebound and assist.

Southern Lee led 17-16 at the break.

"It was a battle in the first half, a physical game and our girls have played physical games all year," said Southern Lee head coach Nate Woodruff, a former all-conference football standout at Averett (Va.) University.

"I felt good after the first half, we were doing some pretty good things. I told them at halftime they're going to pressure us. We're either going to handle it or we're not."

The Cavaliers didn't.

Eastern Wayne opened the third quarter with a 15-3 run. Mozingo's 3-pointer off of a turnover and Hamilton's kiss off the glass in transition ignited the run. Monk picked the Cavaliers for two steals, dished out two assists and scored twice -- the first basket coming off of Reid's steal which induced a Southern Lee timeout.

"We've only played zone one time and we did OK against Conley, but man-to-man is our bread and butter, and it showed to be effective," Mozingo said.

The Warriors built 11-point leads on three occasions in the second half. The Cavaliers closed the gap to four points, 37-33, midway through the fourth period, but could get no closer.

Reid's layup along with baskets from Tianna Christopher and Elondia Grant squelched any further attempts at a comeback. Grant finished with eight points.

Hamilton just missed a triple-double with eight points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots.

"I just gave them a talk (at halftime) and told the girls if they wanted to see Wednesday, they had to get through tonight and they came out ready to play in the second half," EW head coach Phil Gray said. "They played real hard on defense."