Lady Colts dominate in rout of Harrisburg

WILSON – The Rivercrest Lady Colts stayed in the hunt for a 3-3A Conference title with a 65-36 win over Harrisburg Saturday.

The Lady Colts, Corning and Manila all have one loss although Corning’s win total is six compared to Rivercrest and Manila’s five.

Rivercrest owns a win over Corning but fell by seven to Manila in December. They host both teams this week – Manila Thursday and Corning Saturday.

Elisabeth Green move toward the goal is impeded by Rivercrest’s Zakiyah Brownlee, while Mykayla Banks applies pressure from the opposite side. Green drew the foul and sank her free throws but it wasn’t enough in the 65-36 defeat at the hands of the Lady Colts. (Photo By David Pierce)

Chalk this win up to defense as the Lady Colts (11-6, 5-1 3-3A) swarmed Harrisburg (13-8, 3-4) with unrelenting pressure. The host team  collected 17 steals and forced seven turnovers. That led to 14 points off turnovers. Point guard Mykayla Banks accounted for nine of those steals, including three on consecutive Lady Hornet possessions. Destiny Burks swiped five herself as the pair tallied 14 of the 17.

“Unbelievable, considering how out of shape we are being off a week,” replied Rivercrest head coach Ronnie Dye when asked about the speed his guards operate at. “But our guards are tough and can really pressure some folks.”

If Harrisburg did get in the lane, their players were met by 6-5 Zakiyah Brownlee and 6-4 Mecuriah Vance. Brownlee blocked three shots and altered others, while the pair controlled the offensive boards on their end of the floor. All in all, the Lady Colts grabbed 22 offensive rebounds which they promptly turned into 14 second chance points.

It was close for one period as a Gabby Nunez three pulled the Lady Hornets within one at 12-11 as the opening frame ended.

However, Burks, who scored a game-high 25 points, matched her jersey number three with three three-pointers in the second quarter. Those nine points were almost the difference as the Lady Colts outscored the visitors, 19-9, in the frame.

That coupled with a 21-6 advantage in the final period of play was all Rivercrest needed to post their fourth win in a row.

The Lady Colts play four more games this week with the Manila and Corning matchups being pivotal in their drive to a conference crown.

Banks had 16 points to go along with her nine steals and also dished out five assists. Brownlee totaled nine points and Ella Gonzalez added five.

Rivercrest shot 39 percent from the field on 27-of-69 shooting, while Harrisburg was limited to 24 percent on 13-of-54 shooting.

The Lady Hornets Cassie Carlson scored 11 points, Elisabeth Green nine and Nunez seven in the loss.