Cressida Duncan scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Cailyn Howard finished with 11 points to lead Warren East to a 61-29 win over Russellville on Tuesday evening at Raider Gym.
It was the Lady Raiders’ largest win since beating South Warren 62-32 back on Feb. 8, 2011.
“It’s a good step for us,” first-year Warren East head coach Orlando Hayden said. “I think we handled the ball well, we made decent shots and when we can spread the floor and get the ball to our post, we look a whole lot better. I told them that our goal is to put up 60 points a game and told them that if every time we play we put up 60 points, you should win ball games.”
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Coach Hayden was very pleased with his guard play and one of the main ball handlers he was most impressed with was freshman Lucy Patterson, who pitched in 10 points for East.
“Being a freshman, she’s doing real well – and she’s just gonna get better,” said Hayden. “It’s kind of hard when I take her and Allie (Hendrick) out because then I have to have someone else step into that role. But, one way or another, one has to stay in while the other is out.”
Warren East came out ready to play, using a big first quarter to build a 17-4 lead after one. In the first period, Howard was already up to 8 points and the Lady Raiders had forced four turnovers.
A 10-point second quarter helped East push its advantage to 18 at 27-9 at halftime. After two periods of action, Duncan – who is still bouncing back from an ankle injury – had 12 points while Howard had 8 for a Lady Raider team that was shooting 12-23 from the field.
“I’m still a little scared to put pressure on it, but I’m trying to push through it,” Duncan said. “I’ve just gotta keep wrapping it up so I can keep playing as hard as I can.” She added that the start under Hayden has “been great.”
Warren East continued to dominate in the second half – in the third quarter especially – and outscored Russellville 34-20 to roll to its second victory of the year.
The Lady Raiders (2-2) return to action on Friday in a 6 p.m. District 14 contest at South Warren. The Lady Panthers (0-3) travel to Todd County Central on Friday, with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
