 L.J. Erves elevates for a jump ball against Westlake’s Marcus Thornton. Fans, players and coaches from around the region packed into the Fayette County High School gym Wednesday night to get their first taste of prep basketball this season.
The Tigers hosted the Westlake Lions in a pair of exhibition contests that pitted the girls and boys varsity Fayette teams against their former region rivals.
Westlake won both scrimmages Wednesday, neither of which count in the standings.
The Lady Lions rolled past Fayette in the girls game, building a 20-7 first quarter lead en route to a 50-34 victory.
Senior Anma Onyeuku, who signed a college scholarship with Hofstra earlier in the day, led the Lady Tigers with 13 points. Fayette center Elem Ibiam, a junior transfer from Spalding County, scored 11 points and blocked five shots, but Fayette’s young rotation of guards struggled against Westlake senior floor leader Sharnay Boykin.
The Mercer signee has started all four years for the Lady Lions. She finished with a dozen points and six steals.
“Like I told the team last year, this exhibition is just a start,” said Fayette head coach John Strickland.
“It’s a chance to get on the court and go against another good team. We played better during some spurts, even though we didn’t keep it very competitive on the scoreboard.”
Strickland likes what he sees in Ibiam. Her presence inside allows Sasha Sims to move to the small forward position. On the Lady Tigers back to back state runner-up teams, Sims spent most of her time in the low post. With the graduation of guards Tessah Holt, Chasity Welch, Dekota Walton and Arielle Register, Sims’ ball-handling skills are in higher demand this season.
“[Ibiam] gives us an inside presence,” Strickland explained.
“We lost all our main guards from last year and we’re trying to fill those spots. With Sasha at the three, more of the offense will run through her. She’s worked on her outside shooting and her passing.”
Sims seems to be embracing her new role. She drained a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. She rarely shot long range jumpers in previous years.
Strickland has yet to settle on a starting back court. The Lady Tigers used a rotation of a handful of guards Wednesday night. Freshman Keyondra Jenkins showed some promise at the point, but struggled with turnovers. Jocelyn Hairston, Christina Hall, Brittany Scott and Crystal Scott also saw time at the guard positions in the first and second half.
“The key for our guards is to protect the ball and make good decisions,” Strickland said.
“We struggled with that some, but I like what I’ve seen in practice. This game is just a start. By the time we open the regular season at Creekside, we’ll have a starting point guard. It’s a crucial position, like the quarterback on a football team. I’m not going to go into the season with a point guard by committee. One of these girls is going to earn that spot over the next nine days.”
Fayette actually tied Westlake 21-21 in the second half, but that followed a first half wherein the Lady Tigers were plagued by uncharacteristically poor shooting.
Onyeuku, one of the most prolific scorers on each of the Lady Tigers back to back to back region championship teams, missed a handful close range jumpers and layups in the first and second quarter.
She recovered in the second half and looked more like her usual self. Onyeuku even completed a few of her trademark fast break layups -- only it was Sims not Holt who delivered the cross-court outlet passes.
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The Fayette County boys team is also replacing a handful of key players from last season’s region championship team.
Noel Johnson and Addison Flynn graduated. The team’s second leading scorer and top rebounder Malcolm Brogdon has transferred to Greater Atlanta Christian in Norcross.
But the Tigers still have 08-09 starters Maurice Williams and Adam Smith on the roster.
That duo and a mix of new faces shined Wednesday, pushing a very good Westlake team to the brink before falling just short, 65-59.
Smith set the tone early. Easily one of the best pure jump shooters this side of I-20, Smith drained four long threes in the first quarter to open up a 16-6 Fayette lead. Smith finished with 18 points, despite being held scoreless in the second half.
Chapel Hill transfer L.J. Erves started for the Tigers and picked up an early steal and dunk. The 6’4” combo guard played heavy minutes and looked good defensively in the 2-3 zone Fayette Coach Andre Flynn dialed up for most of the game. Erves finished with 13 points.
Fayette led 20-14 after one, but Westlake center Marcus Thornton got hot in the second quarter, pulling his team back into the game.
Thornton signed Thursday with Clemson, where he’ll play alongside former Fayette standout Noel Johnson. He totalled 18 points Wednesday. Fayette Forwards Will Parker, Kellen Stargell and 6’8” sophomore center Ekene Anachebe did a good job containing Thornton
and Westlake’s other bigs early, but the Lions eventually wore them down inside.
Westlake scored back to back buckets in the paint to take a 57-54 lead with five minutes remaining and held on the rest of the way.
Whitewater transfer Ian Clark (6’5” forward), football star Eric Lauderdale (6’2” guard) and sophomore Brandon Grant (5’9” point guard) all saw significant minutes for the Tigers Wednesday night.
Williams led Fayette with eight rebounds and Grant had a team high three assists.
One positive from the scrimmage loss was Fayette’s bench depth. While the Tigers are undersized up front, Flynn looks to have a solid rotation of contributors who will eat up quality minutes.
Terrance Johnson, a junior guard who played a couple of minutes Wednesday, had Fayette fans doing a double take. He drained a corner three in the second quarter. Johnson is wearing jersey 22, Cuincy Carruthers’ old number. Carruthers sank countless corner threes during his successful Fayette career, including five in the 2008 state championship game.
Both Fayette teams open their official season next Friday at Creekside.
The first regular season games around the county tip off this coming Tuesday. Look for our 2008-2009 team previews next week.
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