NEWBERRY — Newberry took the win over Lees-McRae on Monday night with a final score of 78-62 in a home opener that doubled as the first meeting between these two teams.

The Wolves were in control for the entire matchup dictating the pace of play and taking advantage of mismatches. Newberry’s play came mostly through the painted area tallying 34 points in contrast of Lees-McRae’s 18 points.

Newberry kept a distance from Lees-McRae during the first half, but allowed the opposition to inch closer in the closing half.

Meg Essex towered over defenders and notched 29 points, a block, seven rebounds, and one steal. Shelby Britten tallied 27 points, four steals, eight rebounds, six assists, and was a perfect four-for-four from the free throw line. Handreck rounded out the Wolves’ offense with 11 points, a steal, five assists, eight rebounds, and was also perfect from the free throw line.

A key reserve for the Wolves came in Hannah Lepaio who nabbed two points, a steal, an assist and six rebounds.

Newberry led for the majority of the game, but Lees-McRae tied and held the lead in the game once. The Wolves held the Bobcats to 33.3% from the field and three-point line. Brea Forbes and Karli Mason were the only two that scored in double digits for the Bobcats.

“We had some good individual performances, but need to keep getting better as a team,” said Coach Sean Page. “I also thought we were okay on offense, but our team defense needs to improve.”

Before the game, Head Coach Sean Page and Assistant Head Coach Joanna Tincher honored Nicola Handreck for reaching 1,000 career points over the weekend against Limestone in the Conference Carolinas-SAC Showdown.

Nicola Handreck was honored for reaching 1,000 career points over the weekend.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_Basketball.jpgNicola Handreck was honored for reaching 1,000 career points over the weekend. Courtesy photo

Staff Report