The East Jackson Lady Eagles got their 2010-11 campaign under way last week with tournament play at North Oconee. They came away with a 1-1 overall record after defeating Lanier on Monday and losing to North Oconee on Tuesday.
The Lady Eagles travel to Banks County this Friday to take on the Lady Leopards at 7 p.m..
Banks County enters the season on a hot streak, picking up two wins in tournament play last week, defeating Hiawassee Dam 53-21 and Highlands, NC, 61-39.
The Lady Leopards hope to continue a winning streak over the Lady Eagles after prevailing in their last two meetings, 60-55 on Feb. 12 and 62-41 on Feb. 18. East Jackson has won four of the seven meetings between the two teams, dating back to January of 2008.
Lanier
East Jackson opened its season last Nov. 22 with a crushing tournament 52-2 win over the Lanier Lady Longhorns.
North Oconee
After a dominating performance over Lanier, the Lady Eagles were looking for a bit more of a challenge when they faced tournament host North Oconee on Tuesday.
They got that challenge, as the Lady Titans took control early. By the end of the first quarter, North Oconee held a five-point lead, 8-3. That grew to 14 in the second quarter, carrying a 24-10 advantage into the half.
The Lady Eagles showed some fight in the second half, limiting North Oconee to 10 points while putting nine on the board themselves to make it a 34-19 game, but the Titans outscored East Jackson 12-8 in the final stanza to win 46-27.
“The tournament went well,” coach Katie David said. “We struggled early (against) North Oconee and played timid. We really turned the game around the second half but we just couldn’t get out of the ditch we dug the first half. We missed 13 free throws and missed early opportunities to change the complexion of the game.”
The Lady Eagles were slated to face Apalachee at Bethlehem on Tuesday for the first meeting of the two teams in school history.
Results were unavailable at press time.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
