“We followed up our game Tuesday with four strong quarters tonight except for two runs they made against us, one in the first half and the other in the third quarter,” head coach Donna Enis said Wednesday night. “We played a much better game tonight overall.”
The Lady Purple Hurricanes (9-2, 0-0 in Region 7B-AAA) jumped out to a crushing 18-5 lead after a quarter, then matched Etowah (5-7, 1-1 in Region 5-AAAAA) bucket for bucket in the runup to halftime, carrying a 28-15 lead into the break. Cartersville added a bucket to its lead in the third quarter, stretching the differential to 48-33. It outscored Etowah 18-10 in the final period.
“Our goal was to control the game from the start, and I felt like we did,” Enis said. “We wanted to play with a lead and stay in control.”
The coach said the Lady Canes kept lighting up the scoreboard and controlling the action in a variety of ways. “We got some transition points, several rebounds with fast breaks, some points off our offense and had good contributions from a lot of players.
“We’re doing a good job teamwise, and I’m really proud of what we’re doing.”
Wheeler, who the Lady Canes played Tuesday, had led pretty much the whole game with Cartersville not actually taking control until the final six minutes, when it passed the AAAAA team and won, 67-61.
Contributing to the Lady Canes’ cause Wednesday were Stefanie Will, who hit for 13 points while getting four steals; Katie O’Connor, 6 points with 11 rebounds; Kea Garnigan, 5 points; Kaelyn Irby, 15 points, 10 assists, five steals; Terika Mostella, 2; Adrienne Green, 21 points, 13 rebounds; D’Yasmine Richards, 2 points; Jazmine Baldwin, 2 points.
The Lady Canes now play Creekview, which started the evening 11-2, 4-0 in Region 7-AAAA, today. The Lady Grizzlies, who lost in the Sweet Sixteen round last year, are currently ranked No. 5 in the state coaches poll. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
“Creekview is probably the best team on our schedule this year,” Enis said. “It’ll be a huge test for us.”