BEAR CREEK — If Eastern Randolph was looking for a torchbearer last Monday night against Chatham Central, the Lady Wildcats found a sizzler in Brecken Snotherly.
Snotherly fired in five three-pointers in the first half to help Eastern Randolph open up a seven-point lead at intermission before the visitors from Ramseur pulled away after the break en route to scorching the Lady Bears 61-42 in Gerald L. Binkley Gymnasium.
Completing a sweep of their non-conference season series, the Lady Wildcats raised their overall record to 5-3, while Chatham Central lost for the fifth time in nine outings.
Amya Brooks came off the bench to contribute 15 points for the winners, who shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the floor while turning the ball over 20 times.
Danielle Vaughn tossed in 17 points to lead the Lady Bears, who connected on just 22 percent (12-of-54) of their field goal attempts but held a 37-32 advantage on the boards while committing two dozen turnovers.
“Brecken did a good job in the first half finding holes on the perimeter against Chatham Central’s man defense and really lit it up from the outside to give us an early spark,” said Eastern Randolph coach Brett Snotherly.
“We get a lot of offense off our defense, which forced a number of turnovers or steals that led to some easy transition baskets,” the coach said. “Even though we were a step behind at times tonight in our man-to-man defense or we weren’t always in the right spot, I still felt like we were in control for most of the game. While we missed some close shots that would have allowed us to extend our lead, one of the big keys for us was Amya’s play off the bench. She ran the floor well with her quickness and gave us a lift on defense with her aggressiveness.”
Lady Bears’ coach Lynda Burke related poor shooting and lapses in defense proved costly from the outset.
“Our man defense could not stop Snotherly in the first half, but I thought we controlled her better when we went to a zone in the second half,” remarked Burke. “Offensively we missed too many easy shots while we didn’t have good ball movement in the first two quarters. We did a good job holding our own in rebounding, but we have to take better care of the ball and improve getting back on defense against teams that transition well.”
Following Brooks’ fast break layup that gave the Lady Wildcats a 5-4 advantage with 3:09 left in the initial stanza, Snotherly drained three treys to fuel a 15-4 quarter-ending run that put Eastern Randolph up 20-8 after one period.
A pair of Vaughn three-pointers over the first three minutes of the second frame ignited a 12-2 Chatham Central burst that drew the Lady Bears within two prior to Snotherly tallying eight of her team’s last 10 points in the period as the Lady Wildcats increased their lead to 32-25 at halftime.
After Eastern Randolph expanded its advantage to 46-34 on Brooklyn Rush’s conventional three-point play with 1:55 left in the third stanza, Mary Grace Murchison’s three-point play then countered solo free throws by Rush and Snotherly as Chatham Central trimmed its deficit to 11 entering the last eight minutes.
But while the Lady Bears failed to connect on any of their 10 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, the Lady Wildcats gradually began boosting their lead down the stretch and eventually fashioned their biggest spread of the evening when a pair of Lilly Whitaker foul shots with just under two minutes to play accounted for the final margin.