A 61-42 victory was the result of the first round game pitting Newcastle’s Lady Racers against the Class 6A Lawton Eisenhour Eagles on last Friday night during the Sweet Pea Invitational basketball tournament.
Head Coach Nichole Copeland said it was a tale of two halves for the Racers.
“We were frustrated with the first half, but thinking back on it, I thought we played well for the most part in the first half. We needed to clean some stuff up defensively, but the entire first half we were all sitting there thinking ‘shots will fall, shots will fall, shots will fall …,’” Copeland said. “We got great looks offensively. Execution was great. Just had a lid on the basket.”
The coach said the second half started with a Leah Bradley three-pointer from the corner, which opened the floodgates.
The Lady Racers had 24 points to Ike’s 12 in the third quarter and then 16 points to Ike’s eight in the fourth.
“We started knocking down shots and got easy buckets in transition,” Copeland said. “We finally were able to find a way to let loose and relax and just go play, and we rode that big second half wave.”
Reagan Greenroyd and Leah Bradley both set new career highs in scoring with 20 points each. Bella Allen added 6 points to go along with her relentless tenacity, according to the coach. Amber Ellis “was big time for us tonight,” adding another 10 points. Ava Snider had five points.
Newcastle lost to Piedmont, 41-39, after taking the lead late in the fourth quarter. Copeland said missed free throws and a couple of late mental lapses did the Lady Racers in.
Bradley had 12 points, and the coach said she’s been playing the best basketball they’ve seen her play. Greenroyd had 13 points, and Marble had six points. Allen and Snider added three each, while Brylee Scott had 2.
