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.