Lady Knights slay East Wake Eagles, 66-42
Dec. 15—HENDERSON — Led by a barrage of three-pointers from sharpshooter Katherine Suther, the Lady Knights took down the Eagles, 66-42, on Thursday's Christmas spirit night at Vance Charter.
The junior guard scored 27 points on 5-8 from long range and was the Max Preps player of the game.
"It gets people hype when you can make big shots like that," said Suther. "It helps the energy of the game."
Suther had zero hesitancy in her jumpshot, starting the game a blazing 3-3 from behind the arc, jumping her team out to a 20-14 lead after the first quarter.
After seeing her first trio of shots hit nothing but net, Suther was awoken offensively.
"She set the tone early with those three three-pointers," said East Wake Academy coach Anthony Lamme.
Halfway through the second, sophomore guard Alyssa Bullock spearheaded a one-on-one fastbreak against East Wake's Peyton Connolly. Bullock drove hard to the right of the rim to get Connolly out of position, slowed down, jumped barreling into her chest, and drew the and-one call to rile up the crowd.
East Wake wheeled out their newly implemented zone defense, giving Vance Charter open shooting pockets on the floor. Suther torched the Eagles all night with her floater and Bullock finished two assists shy of a triple-double.
East Wake's towering, 6-foot-2 center, Emma Roche, finished the game with a double-double, putting her mark in the paint. The Eagles' "all-around" bigman caused many Knights to hesitate and pump fake in the lane.
No. 42 was sending shots back all night, but Suther's mid-range game was unbothered by Roche's interior presence.
"I just didn't close out fast enough and get a hand in her face," said Roche.
Shot-making slowed for Vance Charter in the second half as the Eagles keyed in on the scorers, but the Knights still controlled a 20-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Offensive rebounds provided easy putback opportunities for the Knights and provided shooters even more confidence to pull.
Freshman Leah Rice got the start over Alaina Bullock for internal team reasons— head coach Brian Howard would not elaborate.
The Bullock sisters combined with Suther provide Vance Charter with a balanced scoring attack on a nightly basis.
"We're just trying to put the pieces together," said Knights coach Brian Howard.
With the win, the Knights are now 5-1 and Alyssa Bullock has scored a double-double in each of their six games.
Freshman forward Kayleigh Morris will return to the team for the Christmas tournament starting Dec. 27, which kicks off with a rematch against Neuse Charter.
Stats
Katherine Suther (VC) — 27 PTS (5-8 3FG), 4 REB, 3 AST
Alyssa Bullock (VC) — 18 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST
Emma Roche (EWA) — 21 PTS, 12 REB, 3 BLK
