Lady Eagles beat THS

The motto on the shirts say it all.

Play hard. Play smart. Play together.

That’s exactly what Cleveland-Hill did.

Amani Scott dropped 15 points as the Lady Eagles beat Tonawanda 38-22 in their ECIC IV match up that was played in the George H. Miller Gym on Monday.

“I like the togetherness. The way they’re playing together,” coach Darci Secor said. “I feel like they’re together on the court the whole time. Communicating. Rotating the ball and running the offense.”

The Eagles opened with a quick 6-1 run. Though the Warriors were able to rally with some late buckets by Maddy Taylor and Katie Wood to close the gap to 6-5 by the end of the quarter they were never really in the game.

A lack of communication on the court doomed the Warriors as they turned the ball over far too often.

“I think those opportunities, that’s when the baskets come, and I think that’s the maturity with our girls being able to play together as well,” Secor said.

Cleve-Hill (2-1, 3-3) simply played a more complete team-oriented game.

Center Mora Sullivan also played a huge role in the Eagles win.

“This was the best I’ve ever seen her play in the two years I’ve coached her,” Secor said.

Just as important as the win is the fact that point guard Aqe’lah Douglas returned to the court after sitting out the first five games due to injury.

Douglas gives the Eagles a more complete look in all facets as it allows Scott to be on the wing and open for more outside shots.

The Warriors fall to 0-2 in league, 1-3 overall.

But this is more than just getting back to the drawing board and preparing for their next game at Alden on Thursday.

First-year varsity coach Amanda Jaworski says their early struggles run deeper than just having to work harder.

“We have a hard time with our attitude and that gets the best of us,” Jaworski confessed. “When we make a bad play it consumes us. So what happens is it’s a trickle-down effect. It snowballs.”

On a positive note the Warriors, who were playing their home opener, held a moment of cheer for Jaworski’s dad Jim “Coach Daddy” Souter who succumbed to prostate cancer in October 2017.

Haley Chudy and Lexus Frears paid tribute to Souter in a pregame ceremony where they encouraged the crowd to cheer for his memory.