Dragon Fire Invitational Day 2 Report

Fairley vs St. Agnes

When you go watch Fairley play, be prepared. Fairley is one of the most patient teams you will ever see and St. Agnes is just as patient. Fairley can tend to be too patient and pass up good shots by making the extra pass. St. Agnes immediately takes whats given.

Within the first 3 minutes of the game, it looked as if Fairley had met their match with St. Agnes taking an early 5-0 lead. However, after a free throw by freshman Erica Watkins, Fairley went on a 14-0 run to end the quarter 14-5.

St. Agnes seemed a little rattled and changed from a zone to a man-2-man defense but Fairley continued to hit threes and knock down wide open shots on the weak side block. Fairley pretty much cruised to victory 57-36.

Two players who are really stepping their game up is Fairley junior Brandi James and freshman Erica Watkins. You can not leave Brandi open behind the arc. Erica Watkins is improving tremendously in the paint especially footwork and hands. She's knocking down shots and controlling herself better than earlier in the season.

Fairley (57) -- Marquasha Evers 7, Brandi James 18, Erica Ousley 14, Erica Watkins 16, Brandi Wells 2.

St. Agnes (36) -- Katie Bell 2, Allie Haag 7, Devan Langston 6, Cristina Patton 5, Maggie Thompson 6, Dallas Threadgill 4, Rachel Young 6.

Fairley / 14 / 16 / 14 / 13 / -- / 57 /

St. Agnes / 5 / 9 / 10 / 12 / -- / 36 /

Records -- Fairley 11-1, St. Agnes 8-4.


Collierville vs Mitchell

This turned out to be a great game. It was close throughout.

I've been to a lot of games throughout this season and when I attended the first Mitchell-Fairley match up at Mitchell, I found one of the city's purest shooters, senior Anesha Morton. She reminds me so much of former Mitchell standout, Andrea Holmes who's now at Binghamton University. She got the game started with a three pointer. Do not leave her open. I repeat. Do not leave her open. She finished the game with 5 three pointers.

The Dragon Fire Invitational is the place to be to watch poised point guards. Millington's senior Jasmine Newsome is probably the best overall point guard in the mid-south area. But this young lady showed me tonight that she is a close second. Collierville's senior Nia Gregory has a vision like Steve Nash. She will rebound, anticipate and steal and score. But the 1 thing this young lady has that does not show up in the books is her heart. Tonight she refused to let her team lose.

This game was more of a battle of the post. There was some great post action tonight. Mitchell senior Jasmine Gardner is so agile running the floor and scoring in transition. She has great hands for catching high passes. She rebounds and block shots. Another senior for Mitchell, Jasmine Cofield, size will fool you. She can run the floor also and even handle the ball.

But tonight Collierville's junior Ashley Jones stepped up and made her presence known against the upperclassmen. She displayed a variety of low post moves; face up, hook shot, drop step, and stick back. Her long arms and big body takes up a lot of space and caused some problems for Mitchell.

Collierville pulled it out 42-37.


Collierville (42) -- Danielle Adams 2, Kelsey Bizzell 4, Nia Gregory 13, Ashley Jones 12, Lindsey Little 2, Lou Thomas 9.

Mitchell (37) -- Demetria Bradshaw 2, Jasmine Cofield 5, Jasmine Gardner 9, Monique McConnell 4, Anesha Morton 17.

Collierville / 10 / 5 / 16 / 11 / -- / 42 /

Mitchell / 9 / 9 / 12 / 7 / -- / 37 /

Records -- Collierville 6-5, Mitchell 3-8.