CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Cleveland scored the first 14 points Tuesday on the way to a 56-34 District 5-AAA girls' basketball victory over East Hamilton.
The Lady Blue Raiders came out in a full-court press, and the Lady Hurricanes committed 13 turnovers in the first half, which ended with Cleveland ahead 30-18.
Cleveland senior Bre Ware scored nine points in the opening half, and Jenna Scoggins had seven. They ended with 10 and nine.
Junior Shawnia Anderson for the Lady Raiders got in foul trouble early with three in the first half, which sent her to the bench with seven minutes to go in the second quarter. That helped Cleveland score only nine points to East Hamilton's eight in that period, but it had little effect on the outcome.
"We came out in a press to start the game, and we got a pretty good lead quick and then I felt like we got really slack," Cleveland coach Mindy Kiser said. "We had a discussion at halftime about what our expectations were, and we were not meeting that expectation."
East Hamilton closed the margin to 11 with 5:17 to go in the third quarter after a basket by Kyndall Caudle, but after a series of baskets by the Lady Raiders, the lead was back to 20.
Cleveland did not let up in the fourth quarter and coasted to a 22-point victory. Ware was the only double-figure scorer for either team.
Turnovers were a major problem for the visitors throughout the game.
"This is something that we do. We struggle under pressure," Hurricanes coach Derek Morris said. "A lot of it is because we are very young. I have two freshman guards that start and a sophomore who is playing her first year on varsity."
Contact Colby Roach at sports@timesfreepress.com.