Wylie East junior Sidney Sanders, pictured in previous action, helped to spark a 15-0 run to begin their Tuesday, Dec. 17 game at Naaman Forest. The Lady Raiders won 51-30. Sanders scored 10 points. Photo by Maddie Smith / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Wylie East boys and girls basketball teams posted a sweep of Naaman Forest on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The Lady Raiders won in emphatic fashion, 51-30, while the Raiders boys outlasted the Rangers 51-37 from Naaman Forest.
The Lady Raiders turned offense into defense, with their transition game helping to fuel a 15-0 run to begin their game against the Lady Rangers, on their way to earning a 51-30 victory.
“The start was much better than our last game,” said Meghann Hodapp, Wylie East head girls coach. “We talked about coming out aggressive and they responded.”
The quick pace that Wylie East operated at along with their defensive pressure forced Naaman Forest into making a lot of mistakes. The Lady Rangers turned the ball over 13 times in the first quarter alone with the Lady Raiders jumping the passing lanes and using their hands to generate multiple steals. Many of the turnovers were converted into points.
Senior Saliz Ward and juniors Sidney Sanders and Sharmayne Jones provided the offensive spark, accounting for all 15 points during the Lady Raiders’ early run.
Jones made a jumper and a putback in a span of 39 seconds to give Wylie East an 8-0 lead with 6:05 left in the opening quarter of play. Ward showed off her unique ability to break down other teams with her dribbling. Ward took a couple of dribbles and made a layup off the glass while she was fouled. Ward made the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play for an 11-0 Lady Raiders lead.
“We emphasized about doing a better job with our transition offense, and we were able to,” Hodapp said.
Ward, who finished with 14 points, later had an assist on a play in which she made a great bounce pass to junior Addison Young, who finished the play with a layup. Sanders finished with 10 points and Jones had six points for Wylie East (9-10 overall, 3-2 District 9-6A).
There were plenty of times during the second half when the Raiders could’ve allowed the Rangers to go on a big run. Naaman Forest’s defensive pressure was giving Wylie East fits, and the Raiders’ defense gave up several second-chance scoring opportunities and also several layup attempts to the Rangers. However, Wylie East stayed the course and got 19 second half combined points from seniors Emmanuel Chemirmir and Tommy Mayberry in a 51-37 win.
“That seems to be our theme, to find a way,” said Kortney Smith, Wylie East head boys coach. “We’ve done that over the course of the season.”
The first quarter was a defensive struggle as Wylie East clung to a 10-4 lead, but the determination of senior forward Dezmond Thompson to come down with offensive rebounds and create extra possessions allowed the Raiders to control the pace. Thompson accounted for six of his team’s 10 points in the first frame.
Thompson and his Raider teammates also benefitted from some creativity from senior point guard Parker Overstreet.
Overstreet finished with just five points, but he racked up the assists. Overstreet threw a behind-the-back pass that Thompson converted into a layup. Then, with about one minute remaining in the first quarter, Thompson threw down a dunk on a play that was set up by Overstreet for a 10-4 Raiders lead.
“I feel like he’s one of the best point guards in our area, in the state,” Smith said of Overstreet. “He sees the floor well. He’s a floor general, understands how to read a defense and how to run an offense. He’s a special player.”
The shots started to fall in more frequently for Wylie East in the second quarter.
The Raiders made four 3-pointers in the frame with three of those makes coming in the first two and a half minutes, the third of which, a Chemirmir field goal, gave Wylie East a commanding 21-7 lead.
Chemirmir finished with 12 points. Thompson had 10 points. Tommy Mayberry led the Raiders with 19 points.
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