Whether it was driving to the basket, leading the fast break, pulling up for a jumper or knocking down free throws, Water Valley senior point guard Ashley Phillips did it all on offense for the Lady Blue Devils during their 62-51 home victory over Amanda Elzy on Friday.In the nightcap, the Water Valley boys weren’t as lucky to have a player score 34 points and fell to an athletic Panthers team 58-35 coached by former Ole Miss legend Gerald Glass.
Almost from the beginning of Friday’s game, the Lady Blue Devils (6-9 overall) dominated the flow and by the end of the first quarter, they held a commanding 12-5 lead they would never relinquish. Six of the points during the run came from Phillips.
“Ashley controlling the ball, we pretty much put the game in her hands and she was able to pull it out for us,” Water Valley head coach Jason Purdy said.
Throughout the game, Phillips would catch the in-bound pass, go coast to coast and either drive to the rim or pass the ball off to a perimeter shooter, which kept Amanda Elzy’s defense on its heels.
Free throws also played a major role in the Lady Blue Devils’ victory, as Water Valley converted 30 of 42 chances from the charity stripe.
“The free throws were huge, that’s what basically pulled it out for us,” Purdy said.
The strong offensive showing by Water Valley against the one-win Lady Panthers was good to see after the Lady Blue Devils scored just one point in the second half of last week’s loss to J.Z. George.
Asked what his team did to make sure another collapse wouldn’t happen on Friday, Purdy simply said the team put emphasis on shooting this past week.
“We just worked on our shooting,” Purdy laughed. “We basically just spent the bulk of our time working on our shooting.”
Early in the third quarter, senior C.C. Phillips hit the floor hard during a fast-break, was helped off the court and did not return to the game.
Purdy said C.C. injured her knee, but it did not appear to be serious.
“Hopefully it’s just a sprain. She should be back with us pretty soon,” he said.
Despite playing basically just two quarters, C.C. finished second on the team with 10 points, while Tonya Phillips had six points. (January 10, 2011, Page 6)
