By Ronny Carlton

Special to The Farmville Herald

 

A devastating barrage of three-point shots and smothering full court defense proved to be too much for the Cumberland girls varsity basketball team as they fell to the Nottoway Cougars 59-22 Friday night.  

Moments after the opening tip Nottoway’s 1-2-1-1 full court press stemmed the Lady Dukes, forcing them into multiple turnovers.

“Our guard play was shaky tonight,” said Cumberland head coach Omar Liggins. “We didn’t handle their pressure well and it led to easy baskets for them. For us it’s all about defense. We’ve got to make stops and then get out in transition. We aren’t going to excel if we are forced to execute in half court sets.”

After trailing 12-2 early on, the Dukes refused to quit. Cumberland guard Bria Anderson answered the Nottoway onslaught scoring four of her team-high 10 points early in the first quarter to cut the lead to a difference of six.

Defense was the name of the game in the second quarter. The home team’s interior defense protected the basket denying any Nottoway player who dared make their way to the rim. Unfortunately the Dukes failed to convert on the other end of the floor.

“We just couldn’t get any shots to fall. They were good shots too.They just didn’t go down tonight” Liggins said.

The second half proved to be the undoing of the Dukes, frustrated and fatigued they found themselves facing a 30-point deficit. On the night, the Lady Dukes were simply outmatched. With the loss the Dukes fell to 0-2, while Nottoway rose to 2-0.