Red Oak falls in opener at East Mills

A stifling defensive effort helped East Mills to a 47-26 victory over Red Oak in the girls basketball opener for both teams last Tuesday in Malvern.
The Wolverines used a 11-4 run late in the second quarter to grab the momentum in a game where they never trailed.
East Mills coach Lexi Moreno felt the win looked and felt like a first game for both teams.
“I told the girls, no matter who you play the first game you’re [going to] mess up, there’s going to be jitters, you’re going to mess up and be nervous,” Moreno said after the game. “And we definitely saw it out there but I like how we
responded in the second half, especially in that third quarter.”
After taking a 21-13 lead at the half, the Wolverines lead ballooned to as many as 17 points in the third quarter.
“I was excited about how we played on the defensive end,” Moreno said. “There are always things you can fix but our first game intensity was really good. I thought we had a lot of deflections and things like that. I was really proud of how we pushed through when we got tired.”
The Tigers cut the lead back down to 12 early in the fourth but that was as close as they would get.
“We played a very solid first two quarters, defending well, taking care of the ball, and competing on both ends,” said Red Oak coach Carter Bruce. “We went into halftime down eight after a strong stretch of disciplined basketball. In the second half, we struggled a bit with some of the hard things: rebounding, communication, and ball security.”
Despite the final score, Bruce thought his team showed a good first step.
“I saw a lot of growth from where we were last season, and the girls remain positive about the progress we’re making,” he said. “We’re confident we can continue building and be competitive moving
forward.”
Caitlyn Crouse led a balanced Wolverines offense with 11 points. Isabelle Blanton added 10 points. Four other players scored five or more points.
Natalie Johnson led Red Oak with 6 points and Ellie O’Neal added five.