Basketball: Lady Vikings roll over North Hall

MURRAYVILLE – East Hall used an 18-2 first quarter to take control and then cruised to a 61-33 win over North Hall Saturday night at the North Hall gym in girls basketball action.

The Lady Vikings hit 8-of-12 (66 percent) shots in the first quarter while North Hall was just 1-of-12 (8 percent) shooting while also committing nine turnovers.

For East Hall coach Joey Rider it was another solid performance for his team, which has won seven of its last eight games.

“We feel like we’re playing pretty well right now, especially on defense,” Rider said. “We were able to dictate the pace and I think our depth played a big factor.”

Twelve players scored for the Lady Vikings (11-6) and 14 players got into the game. Jasmine Jenkins led East Hall with 11 points, nine in the first half. Kristina Harris had 10, Kayneshia Maddox nine, and Morgan Jackson eight for the Lady Vikings.

Rider said when they get balanced scoring it usually turns out positive.

“We don’t have any one or two or three players that we look to. We count on getting points from a lot of different players. I thought we did a good job of running the offense,” Rider said.

East Hall scored the first six points and North Hall closed it to 6-2 on a basket by Taylor Tate. But the Lady Vikings went on a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to give them a 22-2 lead.

North Hall closed the gap to 29-14 by halftime on a layup by Tate at the buzzer. The Lady Trojans finished the first half shooting just 26 percent with 13 turnovers. East Hall shot 58 percent in the first half with just seven turnovers.

North Hall climbed back in the game in the first four minutes of the third quarter getting to within 30-19. But East Hall used a 17-2 run over the next six minutes to blow the game open and lead 45-21 at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Trojans never got closer than 22 points the rest of the way.

North Hall (7-12) was paced by Tate with nine points. Mary Kate Rushton had seven for the Lady Trojans.