John Essex girls move to 2-1 with rout of 4A Dallas County

Smothering defense along with transitional scoring was the name of the game for the Lady Hornets of John Essex Thursday evening when they out-buzzed the Hornets of Dallas County by a decisive score of 48-22.

Scoring was hard to come by for both squads in the early minutes of the contest. That all changed when junior point guard Krisshonda Fluker burst onto the scene in a big way, forcing four turnovers on four straight defensive possessions that resulted in five quick points for a Hornets team that had been stifled offensively up until the 3:49 mark in the first quarter.

The remainder of the opening period saw Dallas County struggle, not getting on the board until Camisha Moore split a pair of free throws with 27.1 seconds left on the clock. Fluker would immediately answer back with a full-court drive to the basket for an easy bucket. The score after one period of play was 10-1 in favor of Essex.

The Essex Lady Hornets (2-1) continued their domination in the second period, using the same formula that had seen no wrinkles thus far. Amber Richardson took charge as she scored nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, racking up five rebounds and two steals in the process.

The 2-1-2 defensive scheme held firm as well, holding Dallas County to just five points, making the score 24-6 heading into the break.

There would be no miraculous offensive outburst from the Lady Hornets of Dallas County after halftime. Though they never threw in the towel, they had no answer for an Essex team that ended the night with 40 plus forced turnovers.

Essex coach Michelle Sanders stressed the importance of a good defense following her team’s victory.

“We came out and did what we wanted to defensively. That’s what we need to do to win and we did that tonight. We’re going to keep working and working until we reach our goals.” Sanders said.

Fluker and Richardson both finished with a double-double for John Essex.

Fluker ended the night with 20 points and 14 steals while Richardson racked up 17 points and 12 boards.

Tee Fields led the rebounding category with 13, followed by a host of hornets with five or more.

The Lady Hornets of Dallas County were led by Karissa Smiley with nine points, followed by Camisha Moore who had six.