Lady Falcons roll
Published 12:35 pm Wednesday, December 12, 2012
WINDSOR – She’s back.
After a one-year hiatus from coaching the Bertie High School girls basketball team, renowned bench boss Alice Lyons is back at the helm of the Lady Falcons.
Bertie’s girls ran – literally – their record on the young season to 6-0 Tuesday night as they downed 4-A power, J.H. Rose, 64-37.
La’Shai Richardson paced the way for Bertie with 18 points, one of a quartet of Lady Falcons in double-figures.
Teammates Chaquasja Veale with 17 — 11 in the second half, Shaunquisha Leary with 12 and De’najah Brown with 11 also topped the ten-point scoring mark for Bertie.
Erin Walden led the Lady Rampants with 10.
“The girls were just ready to play tonight,” said Lyons, modestly, after the game.
Ready aplenty, as they built a first quarter 10-point lead into a 31-point bulge at one point in the game.
This all comes thanks to their pressure defense and explosive transition game on offense that distributes the ball – and the scoring – among every lady on the team.
“If they don’t share the ball, they sit on the bench next to me,” said Lyons with a grin.
Bertie came off the bench ready to flex plenty of their muscle. They snapped an early 2-2 tie with a seven-point run thanks to six-points from Brown. Rose got just one more field goal the rest of the quarter as Bertie led, 15-5.
Five different Lady Falcons scored in the second quarter as Bertie ramped up the defense and attacked the glass with key offensive and defensive rebounding.
Rose cut it to an eight-point margin at 19-11, with under five minutes until halftime, but the Bertie pressure forced six Rampants turnovers in the frame which was converted into a dozen Falcon points.
Richardson finished the first half scoring having poured in a dozen herself alone as Bertie made a 10-0 run the final three minutes of the quarter and the girls even sprinted into the locker room, ahead 35-12.
Rose played a much more even – and competitive – second half, but the Rampants had no answer for Veale. She scored in transition from steals and Rose turnovers and bombed in jump shots from the outside – including a three-pointer.
However, she was only 2-of-4 from the free throw line. In all Bertie shot 32 free throws and made 17 of them.
Meanwhile, a 7-0 Bertie run midway through the quarter upped the Falcon lead to 52-23 entering the fourth quarter.
Rose (2-5) won the fourth frame, outscoring the Falcons by a deuce, 14-12, as Lyons cleared her bench in the final three minutes. Bertie had just two field goals, as their other eight points came at the charity stripe.
“I think the refs let things get out of control,” said Rose coach Mark Johnson. “However, the refs didn’t cause us to lose; their (Bertie’s) guards played better than us.”
Bertie (6-0) is off now for a week before the Falcons open Northeastern Coastal Conference play next Tuesday in Elizabeth City against Pasquotank County High School.