STEENS — Down a starter against Calhoun Academy on Monday night, Columbus Christian Academy girls basketball needed a boost from someone.
The Rams final game before district play was an important one to get positive momentum going into a brand-new district with some unfamiliar faces.
A 5-0 run to end the first quarter got that momentum going a bit for CCA, but in the second, the Rams’ lone senior, Shienne Easterwood, took over.
She caught fire, knocking down three 3-pointers in an 11-point quarter, as CCA separated itself from the Cougars and dominated in a 51-38 win.
“We took those open shots and tried to hit as many of them as we could,” Easterwood said. “It was really a confidence boost for the entire team. It was like a fire just lit up inside us and we were just going at it.”
Head coach Billy Thomas had been yearning for the senior to step into her shots with more confidence as the season progressed, and Easterling obliged against Calhoun, finishing the game with 13 points, one of three Rams (10-6) in double-figures.
“We’ve been talking about how the next person needs to step up,” Thomas said. “Shienne and I, we’ve talked a lot about confidence. She likes to play the role of being a role player when she’s actually a lot better than she gives herself credit for, and she just stepped up.”
That quick first-quarter run with less than a minute on the clock proved all the more important, set off by junior Ada Farlow, who commanded the paint and led CCA with 17 points.
Where the Rams had issues rebounding earlier on, they were able to rectify the turnovers with steals and fast break opportunities the other way as Calhoun looked outmatched and bewildered on the floor.
“We’re a young team and like a lot of young teams, when you feed off momentum, everyone really starts just going out,” Thomas said. “If we can get one or two things going our way, we can usually turn that into a pretty good run.”
In a non-district schedule filled with teams from larger classifications, CCA held its own and got the win it needed to set into motion what expects to be a strong district showing.
“I think this team is going to go far in the district,” Easterwood said. “I really do. I have true confidence within our team.”
CCA boys 49, Calhoun 16
Pure domination.
That’s the only way to describe the first 10 minutes or so of play for Columbus Christian against Calhoun Academy on Monday night.
Within those first 10 minutes, the Rams rattled off a 35-0 run to open the game, including a 31-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Cougars had no answers to a suffocating press that produced basket after basket for CCA, and in an instant, the Rams ran their opponent off the floor and were able to empty the bench for the entire second half in a 49-16 blowout victory.
“As a coach, that’s been my M.O. my whole coaching career,” head coach Marcus Davidson said. “We’ve got the athletes to do it. Even though we’ve worked on (the press) during practice and during games, I think the competition we’ve played enabled us to come out tonight and be able to turn that into a performance that we’ve been waiting on and looking for.”
The final score wasn’t truly indicative of the lopsided nature of the game, with CCA (6-6) getting seven players on the score sheet, including four who scored eight or more points and two who finished in double figures.
The Rams seemed to be running circles around Calhoun, who struggled to put the ball in the basket the entire game, and scored only five points in the first half.
District play is approaching for CCA, and a win like this is exactly what the doctor ordered going into it.
“With us having success tonight, we’ll see against our size classification schools what we can do,” Davidson said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to take this and build some confidence off it for the rest of the season.”
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