Storm VG vs. Durham Academy

  Durham Academy Cavaliers 63  New Life Storm 30

Playing at home for the second night in a row, the Storm girls lost to the Cavaliers of Durham Academy.  The 3A Independent school used their size and speed to burst out to an 11-0 lead to start the game.  The Storm adjusted and played them even for the rest of the first quarter, trailing 20-9, but in the second period were unable to convert on some good shots and gave up too many turnovers and offensive rebounds, as the Cavaliers extended the lead to over 20 points.  Injuries kept Shelby, Hannah, Emily, and Hannah Grace on the bench for much of the second half, hampering any opportunity to try and mount a comeback.

Storm VG vs. Friendship

New Life Storm 50  Friendship Falcons  39

The Storm girls won the season's home opener 50-39 against the Falcons of Friendship Christian School.  The Storm girls quickly converted the opening tip into an Emily Stone layup, but then went cold and struggled to score through much of the first quarter.  With the score tied 6-6, the seniors got things going as Shelby went to work inside on both ends of the court, and Hannah Grace hit a 3-pointer and a couple of fast break baskets.  The Storm went on a 25-7 run over the rest of the first half.  The dominance continued into the third quarter, and 3 consecutive baskets by Shelby off assists from Hannah Grace pushed the lead out to 43-17 midway through the third period.  For the game, the Storm was led by Hannah Grace's 14 points and 4 assists, and Shelby's 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Storm VG @ Grace Christian (Raleigh)

NLC Storm  57   Grace Christian Eagles  31

The Storm Varsity Girls opened the regular season with a convincing win over the Eagles of Grace Christian School.   From the opening tip, the Storm defense pressured the Eagles, causing turnovers that were quickly converted into points.   The first 10 points of the game were scored by Hannah Grace and Katie on layups after beating the Eagles down the floor.   The Storm shut out the Eagles in the first quarter, leading 18-0.  They kept pouring it on in the second quarter, leading 32-8 at the half, with nearly all the points coming on layups and close-in shots.  The big lead gave the coaches a chance to play everyone a lot of minutes and rest the starters for most of the second half, as the team cruised to victory.  Katie Patrick finished with 16 points, and Hannah Grace and Grace put in 12 each.  Emily Stone had 9 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks.  Six players had 5 or more rebounds, led by Leigh with 8.

NCHEAC Preseason Tournament - Day 2

Upstate (SC) Lady Eagles 49  NLC Storm 41

In the morning game on day 2, the Storm faced off against the Upstate Lady Eagles of Spartanburg, SC.  The air was tense - depending on the outcome of the game either NLC, Upstate, or Blue Ridge would be the bracket winner and go on to the championship game of the tournament.  The Storm got off to a fast start - they were up 10-4 and really taking it to the Lady Eagles, but when Hannah Carlson had to leave after her second foul the team lost momentum and Upstate made a run to take the lead.   The undermanned Storm played with great intensity and heart and stayed right with Upstate, trailing by 2 at the half and by 4 after 3 quarters.  The Lady Eagles began to pull away in the 4th quarter as the Storm tired.  Down the stretch, though, knowing that they had to keep the margin under 13 to ensure a spot in the championship game, the Storm hit some big FT's and made plays defensively to keep the margin down so that they could move on.  On the game they shot only 2-21 from 3-pt range and turned the ball over 23 times against the Upstate full-court pressure, but rebounding (against a much bigger team), defense, FT shooting, and an effective fast break kept them in the game.  Grace Carll came up big with a double-double (13 pts, 12 reb).  Emily Stone also pulled down 14 rebounds.

Surry Runnin' Patriots 59  NLC Storm 47

After a great effort to get to the championship game, the Storm just couldn't get things going against a confident, inspired Surry team.  The Storm girls played hard, but could not solve the Surry zone defense and Surry spread the floor and beat them off the dribble repeatedly for layups.  Emily Stone led the team with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Hannah Carlson chipped in with 13 points.

Although the end was disappointing, to make the championship game with Hannah Grace out for the whole tournament and Shelby going out after the first quarter of the 2nd game was a great accomplishment.  The girls showed a lot to be excited about and also got a chance to see some areas where they still need to grow and improve to get to the level they want to reach by the end of the season.

NCHEAC Preseason Tip-Off - Day 1

Despite playing without Hannah Grace, last season's leading scorer, the  Storm girls kicked off the season with 2 solid wins on the first day of the tournament in Greensboro.

NLC Storm 53  High Point Eagles 38

The first game started off slow, but a banked 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer by Katie Patrick put the Storm up 10-2 at the end of the first quarter.  Grace Carll came off the bench and was a real catalyst - the tempo and defensive intensity noticeably increased when she entered the game and the Storm pulled out 25-9 by halftime.  High Point came alive offensively in the 3rd quarter and cut the lead to 8 in the 3rd quarter but could get no closer, as the Storm again pulled away and led by double-digits most of the way.  Aaron was able to play lots of combinations and get everyone plenty of rest, which was important with 2 (or 3) more games to go over the weekend.  7 players scored at least 5 points, led by Hannah Carlson and Katie with 9 each.  Shelby pulled down 10 rebounds and Emily dished out 6 assists to lead the team.  The Storm had 21 steals on the game, with Sarah grabbing 6.

NLC Storm 56  Blue Ridge Panthers 43

In the night game, the Storm came out playing with a purpose against a good Blue Ridge team fresh off an impressive blowout win over Upstate earlier in the day.  Blue Ridge didn't have an answer inside for Shelby, who scored 6 early points.  3 pointers from Hannah and Emily and a long 2-pointer by Grace helped extend the lead out to 22-10 at the end of the first quarter.  In the 2nd quarter, though, Shelby sprained her ankle and left the game, never to return, and Blue Ridge came back to tie the game as the Storm hit a lull and settled for too many quick 3-pt shots.  In the second half, playing without their two leaders, the rest of the Storm team stepped up.  They got the running game going and scored repeatedly on runouts and fast break baskets to pull back out to a double-figure lead in the 3rd quarter which they held the rest of the way.  Emily led the team with 13 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals.  Katie also scored 13 points.  Hannah Carlson had 10 points and 5 assists; Grace had 10 points and 4 assists; and Sarah, despite fighting foul trouble, was tenacious on the boards with 9 rebounds and played lock-down defense on the Panthers' leading scorer.

The 2012-13 Storm Varsity Girls

Storm basketball kicks off the 2012-13 season on Nov. 2 as the girls go to Greensboro to compete in the annual NCHEAC Preseason Tip-Off Tournament.

Expectations are high this season as the girls return their top 4 scorers (and 8 of the top 9) from last year.   Once again, it all starts with seniors Hannah Grace MacDonald and Shelby Suffridge. Hannah Grace led the team in scoring at 11ppg, and also led the team in FG%, FT%, assists, and deflections as well.  Shelby led in rebounding with 9rpg, was 2nd in scoring, FG%, FT%, and led the team in blocks.  Fellow co-captain and senior Hannah Carlson led the team in 3-pointers for the second consecutive season.  The fourth co-captain, junior point guard Emily Stone, led in steals and tied for the lead in assists, while averaging 5.5ppg and 4rpg.  Soph. guard Sarah Suffridge came on strong last season, finishing 3rd on the team in scoring and rebounding (6ppg, 4rpg) and was 2nd in steals.  Soph. guard Katie Patrick showed lots of promise with 5 double-figure scoring games over the last half of the season.  Senior Leigh Hales provides important size in the post, with a number of strong rebounding games and knack for scoring on offensive rebounds.  Jr. Tamara Johnson provides another outside shooter off the bench, and soph. Hannah Millard gained valuable varsity experience, including a double-double against Goldsboro.  The returnees are joined this year by 3 newcomers: soph. Grace Carll, who was a starter at Trinity Academy last season; freshman Ashlee Brown, who made the All-Tournament team while helping lead the Middle School Storm to the State Championship last season; and senior Emily Millard.

While expectations on the court are high, wins are never the primary goal for the Storm.  That goal, as always, is to be a program that reflects the love and glory of Christ in the way that they play and in the way that they treat each other, opponents, and officials.

Go Storm!!!