DUNCAN —
The Empire Lady Bulldogs head into Christmas break with plenty to be merry about. The Empire boys, meanwhile, go into the break with plenty on their wish list.
The Lady Bulldogs capped a strong start to the season Monday by heading into the break with a 45-8 victory over Fox. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, fell, 54-35.
GIRLS
Empire made a statement early, jumping out to a 19-3 lead in the first quarter and cruising to the win, which improves the squad to 8-2.
“Defensively, we’re great. Offensively, we are executing, we just need to make sure we finish our shots,” Empire girls’ coach Jason Allensworth said. “We’ve definitely gotten better in the first half of the year.”
Junior guard Melaina Yearby continued her strong and consistent play as she scored 14 points for Empire, which tied senior Alyssa George as a team-high.
Senior post Ashlie Atkinson and senior Ashlynn Whittington each added four points apiece.
BOYS
The shots simply wouldn’t fall for the Bulldogs, who trailed 19-8 after the first quarter and never could get back into the game.
“We didn’t play very good at all,” Empire boys’ coach Ryan Green said. “Defensively we gave up quite a few easy baskets and offensively we couldn’t get it going.”
Senior Corbin Henderson led Empire with 10 points, while junior Cooper Hill had nine, sophomore Dustin Curtis scored eight, senior Cordell Setters added six and sophomore Tanner Ford chipped in with two points.
Though the Bulldogs (3-7) head into winter break with a record that shows their struggles, they are still optimistic.
“I expected effort and we definitely play hard every game. Unfortunately, we haven’t come out on top in the majority of our games,” Green said. “We definitely have things to build on and plenty of things to work on over Christmas break.”
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