Storm vs. Friendship

NLC Storm 66 Friendship Christian Falcons 28

In front of a packed house in their first home game of the season, the Storm won big over the Falcons of Friendship Christian School by a score of 66-28. It took the Storm only a few seconds to score in the contest, as Rebecca scored a layup off a perfectly executed tip-off play. The early pace of the game was quick and the Storm used the fast break and good ball-movement against the Friendship zone to establish a lead. However, mounting fouls slowed the pace of the game and kept them from putting the Falcons away. At halftime the score was 30-17 in favor of NLC. The Storm came out blazing after halftime. They turned up the intensity of the defense but cut down on the fouling, and went on a 14-0 run in the first 3 minutes of the 3rd quarter. The highlight was a textbook fastbreak from Shelby to Rebecca to Hannah Grace where the ball went the length of the court without touching the floor, followed by a quick steal and pass ahead to Hannah Grace for a layup and foul for a 3-pt play. Friendship scored three points to stop the run, but then the Storm reeled off another 12 in a row with some nice feeds to Anna inside and a couple of lefty baby hooks by Daryl. A bank shot by Hannah Grace from just inside the 3-pt line at the buzzer made it 56-20, and the 26-point outburst marked the Storm's highest scoring quarter of the season thus far. Rebecca and Hannah Grace led in scoring with 16 points apiece, while Anna had 10. Shelby led in rebounds with 11. This game also marked the varsity debut for Tamara Johnson. Called up from the middle school Storm Club and pressed into duty with Arianna out of town, she contributed solid minutes with the team in foul trouble and scored her first varsity basket late in the game.

Storm vs. Wayne Christian

NLC Storm 29 Wayne Christian Eagles 19

(A big Storm Blog thank you to Head Coach Aaron Miller and Assistant Coach Laura Clements for providing the write-up for this game.)
The Storm made the long trip out to Wayne Christian School and competed in a very defensively-minded battle. The final score of the first quarter was only 4 to 5, with the Storm behind by 1. The Storm’s defense was good, but it was not great. It did not lead to the fast breaks that presented themselves in the first game. At times, the offense moved the ball very effectively against Wayne’s zone. However, at other times, the passing was very sloppy. Instead of the fast-paced game the Storm likes to run, it was a slow, hard, and sometimes ugly 32 minutes. However, in the fourth quarter, with a 9 point lead, the Storm executed very well. They ran four corners to run down the clock, and Wayne had no choice but to put them on the free throw line. The Storm came away with a 29-19 win. Even though the girls know they could have played better, it was good to see them have the perseverance to win a game in which not everything was going their way. Another bright aspect of the game was the play of Shelby Suffridge, who, in a rough and tumble battle, rose to the challenge. Though she only scored 6 pts, Shelby came away from the game with 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block, and 2 deflections.

Hannah Grace finished with 9 points and Daryl pulled down 9 rebounds to lead the Storm.

Storm vs. East Wake

NLC Storm 69 East Wake Academy Eagles 29

The Storm got the season off to a great start with a blowout victory on the road at East Wake. Shelby started things off with the first basket of the season, and NLC used smothering defense and the fast break to run out to a commanding 24-3 lead after the first quarter. The lead was still at 21 points at halftime, and in the second half the Storm never let up, gradually expanding the lead to 30 points after three quarters and on to the final margin of 40, the largest lead of the game. The Storm pushed the ball quickly up the court at every opportunity, getting many fast break baskets and shooting 53% from the field for the game. Defensive pressure yielded 19 steals, as all eight Storm players had at least one steal led by Anna with 6. Hannah Grace led the team in scoring with 28 points on sizzling 13-16 shooting, while Courtney had 10 and all eight players scored. Anna led in rebounding with 12 and Rebecca led a strong overall team passing effort with 6 assists.

New Life Storm - Season 4

Season #4 for the New Life Camp Storm begins tonight! The 10th and 7th graders who started playing together two seasons ago have grown up to seniors and freshmen and, joined by transfer Arianna Dinglasan, are ready to make their mark this season. Come out and see the girls take on East Wake Academy in Zebulon at 6:00.