By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

AUBURN - Seamount League 2A Evergreen used suffocating defense to build a huge lead and stave off third quarter challenges to post a non league 63-53 girls basketball win at SPSL 3A Auburn on Mon., Dec. 22.

The Wolverines are in 5-0 Seamount first place tie with Kennedy Catholic and now stand at 6-1 overall. Auburn's overall record is 2-4.

"The team is learning and we have great bench support," said Evergreen head coach Natasha Hicks McCray, who was a standout athlete in her Auburn High School days. "Everyone played a role for us."

In the first quarter, the Evergreen defensive pressure yielded a multitude of steals that combined with efficient ball movement for a 14-0 scoring run and a 20-7 Wolverine lead with less than two minutes left. Marleisha Cox was pushing up 12 points in the quarter on the way to 15 first half points.

Continuing its control that also included cleaning the rebounding glass on both ends of the court, Evergreen limited Auburn to one shot and out offensive possessions regularly while building up a 29-9 margin just inside the midway point of the second quarter. But Mikelle Howard's 3-point goal for the Trojans capped a 7-1 AHS charge that cut the EHS lead at halftime to 30-16.

Like the stock market taking a sudden downturn, the prosperity for the Wolverines plunged way after Maria Martinez opened the second half with an Evergreen 3-pointer.

It was Auburn's turn to force turnovers while getting hot outside shooting. A trio of 3-pointers, including a rally-closing one from Maria Rodriguez, suddenly had the Trojans within 38-34 as the scoreboard clock displayed 2:49 remaining in the third quarter.

"We dropped our defensive intensity," added coach McCray. "We needed to care of the basketball."

At this point, a delay of game technical on AHS resulted in a Martinez free throw conversion and an Evergreen out of bounds that produced a Cox short range field goal and a 41-34 Wolverine lead. Sidney Dewitt's 3-point goal brought Auburn within 41-37 before two EHS field goals sent it into the fourth quarter with a 45-37 margin that grew into an 11-point lead as the Trojans got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

"We were running off the ball and working good as a team," said Cox, who finished the game with 24 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.

Caroline Tupa was also a strong force with 15 points, nine rebounds (six offensive), three blocks and three assists. Martinzez added 10 points and eight Wolverine rebounds while T Lagarejos notched eight points.
Dewitt and Howard posted scoring of 17 and 12, respectively.

Evergreen powered for 32 rebounds.