WAGRAM — Most of Richmond County’s middle school basketball programs had the first part of the week off, save for the Ellerbe Middle School teams. And they didn’t disappoint.
The EMS basketball teams traveled to the Wagram Recreation Center Tuesday to face off against Christ the Cornerstone Academy in a non-conference contest. The Wildcats swept the Crusaders, with the girls winning handily and the boys holding off a fierce comeback attempt for a one-point win.
It was also the first time this season that both Ellerbe teams won back-to-back games.
Crump’s 16 points lead Lady Wildcats to win
In the Lady Wildcats’ game, eighth-grader Curtia Crump used her size advantage to score 16 points for the Lady Wildcats, as they cruised past the Lady Crusaders 33-12. Fellow eighth graders Layla Hayden and Nyla Stroman each had four points.
Makayla English, Rebecca Avalos, Melissa Morales, Lakeshia Little, and Ashlyn Bouldin all combined to finish the scoring.
The non-conference rout moved the Lady Wildcats to 3-2 on the season, and marked head coach Derek Anderson’s team’s second straight win. Next up will be the Anson Middle School Lady Bearcats, which will travel to Ellerbe on Thursday. Tip is set for 4 p.m.
McBride drains career-high 37 points in close win
Less than a week after head coach Tommy Shelton and the Ellerbe boys’ team upset Sandy Grove Middle School 46-45, which was its first win of the season, the Wildcats found themselves on the upper end of the scoreboard Tuesday. The visiting team squeaked out a 47-46 victory.
It was the team’s second straight nail-biter, and was won mostly in part of a 37-point performance by eighth-grader Emoni McBride. Ellerbe led by eight points at the start of the fourth quarter, but foul trouble allowed CTCA’s post player Landon Wycoff to score 12 fourth-quarter points (27 total) to pull CTCA back into the game.
With Ellerbe up just two points with 30 seconds to go, McBride drove the lane and hit a runner to put the Wildcats up by four. After a CTCA miss and then two EMS missed free throws, Wycoff swished a triple at the buzzer for what was too little, too late.
McBride’s career-high 37 points followed his 21-point performance against Sandy Grove. Also scoring for Ellerbe were Daquan Young, Jh'Kwon Covington and Bryce Goodwin. Adding to Wycoff’s 27 points was Creighton Smith, who added 15 points for CTCA.
With back-to-back wins, the Wildcats improved their record to 2-3 overall, and will go for win No. 3 against Anson Thursday at 5 p.m.
Game information and details provided by Allen Adeimy.
