East Webster gets back on court for easy victory

MABEN – There wasn't very much about the 21-19 loss to Winona on Thursday night that thrilled the East Webster Lady Wolverines.

The Lady Wolverines knew they could play better than they showed against the Lady Tigers and were chomping at the bit to get right back on the court and prove it.

On Friday night, East Webster jumped out to a 12-0 lead on Leflore County and never looked back in getting a 63-33 victory and captured third place in the Class 2A, Region 2 Tournament.

Coach Michael Seger said his Lady Wolverines didn't have the same energy against Winona that they've been having all season. He said Friday was more like it.

"I thought we generated some more points off our defense," Seger said. "That's what we're known for and it got us going. We just made a lot of extra effort plays. We dove on the floor, got loose basketballs, got some offensive rebounds, took a few charges and I think (Friday night) was much more true of who those girls are. I was really proud of how hard they played."

Fueled by a pair of 3-point field goals by Mari-Todd Brown, East Webster was able to get off to a much better start. The lead was 12-0 by the 4:47 mark of the first quarter and the Lady Wolverines held a 15-3 advantage after the first quarter.

Brown described the loss to Winona as "heartbreaking," but said it was key to move on from that quickly.

"We came in and weren't so worried about how we played (Thursday night)," Brown said. "We cleared our minds We were focused on (Friday) and we played really good together. We weren't selfish, were getting each other open shots and not worried who got the most points."

After Leflore County cut the lead to 25-14 early in the third quarter, East Webster pushed the margin to 42-25 by the end of the third quarter.

The Lady Wolverines turned it up to an even higher notch as they went on a 9-0 to open the fourth quarter and led 5125 after another 3-pointer from Brown.

"In the fourth quarter, we score on four or five straight possessions off turnovers," Seger said. "It was encouraging to see them respond to a little bit of adversity in such an unselfish way. Sometimes it's easy for kids to point fingers, make excuses and still be caught up in (Thursday), but I was happy with their response (Friday)."

Brown had six 3-pointers for the game and finished with 22 points. Kadasha Bryant and Isha Patterson scored 11 points each.

East Webster improved to 15-11 and will start the Class 2A State Tournament on the road against the loser of Coahoma County and Leland.