CFCA girls post 48-25 win over visiting Southside

A strong defensive performance powered Cape Fear Christian Academy’s varsity girls basketball team to a 48-25 win over visiting Southside Christian School on Friday.

“You kept hearing me yell, ‘Give me three stops in a row,’” said CFCA coach Dwain Ellis. “That’s kind of a mantra we do in practice. I think it serves them pretty well.”

Junior Cailee Ray had 19 points, sophomore Ella John Dupree had 13 points and sophomore Perri Caroline Ennis had 12 points to lead the Eagles (2-1). Trinity Olive and Mariah Bell had two points apiece.

“What really got us going was dumping the ball down inside to P.C. (Ennis),” Ellis said. “Once we got the ball down to her, that really got our offense going. I think she had 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks or something like that. She’s pretty tough down there.”

Ellis said sophomore Laney Trainer was a key player defensively for the Eagles.

“Laney struggled a little bit on offense, but she picked it up defensively,” Ellis said. “I think she was a little bit down on herself, but once she played great defense and leaked the ball out to the guards, I think that built the confidence up a little bit.”

Junior Grace Buchanan had 10 points and junior Autumn Dixon had seven point to lead the Warriors (1-4).

Both teams struggled to find offense early. It was nearly halfway through the first quarter when Southside Christian’s Brooke Holley put the game’s first points on the board. Nearly two minutes later, Ray broke the seal for Cape Fear Christian with a basket that started a 9-0 run to end the first quarter with the Eagles leading 9-2.

The Warriors scored six unanswered to start the second quarter and cut the lead to just one. But Ennis scored to end the Warriors’ run and start the Eagles on a 19-6 run to take a 28-14 lead into halftime.

The Eagles controlled the second half, outscoring the Warriors 9-5 in the third quarter and 11-6 in the fourth.

Cape Fear Christian returns to action after the Thanksgiving break at Crossroads Christian (0-2) on Nov. 30.

“What we’ve got going against us right now is we can’t be in the gym for a while because they’re redoing the floor,” Ellis said. “So, we’ve got to find somewhere to practice. But once we do that, I think we’ll be OK.”