Oxford, AL – Whitfield, McGrue lead Oxford over Clay Central, but will need to play better to succeed against the demanding schedule that awaits
On the surface, the Oxford girls’ victory over Clay Central Tuesday night would appear to have been a stress-free exercise, but head coach Melissa Bennett knows her team will have to play better going forward to succeed against the demanding schedule it faces.
Xai Whitfield scored 24 points and LaMya McGrue overcome first-minute foul trouble to score 23 as the Lady Jackets opened their season with a 70-26 victory.
Last year’s Class 6A runner-up opened a 27-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Whitfield and McGrue both scored 12 points in the first quarter and each had 18 in the first half.
Despite the lopsided win, Bennett said the Lady Jackets will have to “clean a lot of stuff up.” They looked “a lot cleaner” in the 16 minutes of their scrimmage against Alexandria last week than they did on this night. They took an inordinate number of 3-pointers and hit only seven. They’ll need to spread the wealth instead of relying on just two big scorers.
“For our standard, it wasn’t anywhere near where we want to be,” Bennett said. “For our standards, we underperformed. Our girls, they realize there was some discrepancy in the score, but they have a high standard for themselves, too, and I think they realize that’s not going to cut it against the caliber of schedule we play. We want to put a cleaner product out there.”
In their defense, the Lady Jackets have had only one practice with all 10 players together. And they were playing without guard Justice Woods, out with the flu.
Whitfield gave them the game they’ve come to expect. McGrue did as well, in time, but it took a wake up call to get her going.
McGrue was pulled after picking up two fouls in the first 30 seconds,. She was reinserted later in the quarter as a bit of a test and didn’t pick up another foul the rest of the game.
“She sat most of the first quarter and we were having a hard time,” Bennett said. “I told her you’ve got to grow up right here, you’re a senior, can I trust you to put you back in and she said yes.
“My bench looked at me and went ‘Do you know (she has two fouls)?’ I said I know, we’re trying her against this group so we know we can trust her later. And she played extremely smart.”
Oxford 70, Clay Central 26
CLAY CENTRAL (0-1) – India Glenn 1 1-3 3, Mia Lindsey 0 0-0 0, MaLeah Lindsey 0 3-6 3, NyGeria Carr 0 0-0 0, Ashanti Smith 2 0-5 4, Dymond Heflin 0 1-2 1, Nariah Brock 1 0-0 2, Bailee James 4 1-1 9, Ramsey Parker 1 2-4 4. Totals 9 8-21 26.
OXFORD (1-0) – Xai Whitfield 11 1-2 24, Keziah Mickler 0 1-2 1, LaMya McGrue 10 0-0 23, JaMea Gaston 2 1-2 6, Ava Thomas 1 0-0 3, Mileah Prince 1 0-0 2, Bri Wilson 1 0-2 2, Shaniya Calloway 1 0-0 3, Kaylen Kenney 1 2-3 4, Shay Montgomery 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 5-10 70.
| Clay Central | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 — | 26 |
| Oxford | 27 | 19 | 13 | 11 — | 70 |
3-point goals: Oxford 7 (Whitfield, McGrue 3, Gaston, Thomas, Calloway). Total fouls: Clay Central 9, Oxford 19. Officials: Rusty Burroughs, Clay Calkins, Chad Hoffman.
