Central girls grab big lead, breeze to win over Egyptian

In the days of ancient Egypt, a flu epidemic would wipe out an entire city. In the modern Egyptian times, it just wipes out a basketball game.

The flu bug found its way to Cape Girardeau and helped script a 49-24 victory for Central over Egyptian, Ill., Wednesday night.

The Tigers (8-5) began the game as expected, racing out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. Megan McDonald, playing through bronchitis, scored nine points in the opening eight minutes to boost her team.

Egyptian (9-5) was held to just two points in the second quarter and the quick Tiger defense forced 17 turnovers in the first half to lead 37-6 at halftime.

Despite the big halftime lead, Central coach Sheila Midgett was not pleased with the way the second half went as Egyptian outscored the Tigers 18-12.

"We just didn't come out focused in the second half. We thought it was going to be easy and we forced some turnovers," Midgett said.

"We didn't play like we do, we played down to their level," McDonald said of the second half.

McDonald scored all 16 of her game-high points in the first half.

Central continued to get open looks on offense in the second half but couldn't manage to make them count. Seniors Victoria Wilson and Courtney Edge put in Central's only points of the third quarter, each scoring four. Wilson finished with 11 points.

"I think the only ones that weren't sick were Courtney and Vicki," McDonald said.

Anna Brisso scored all four of Central's points in the final period and finished with nine.

Ashley Ledbetter paced Egyptian with 11 points.

Egyptian coach Chuck Doty stayed at home with the flu so assistant Donna Ledbetter filled in.

"We played a lot better this year than last year so I can't be disappointed," Ledbetter said.

Central posted a 103-21 victory over Egyptian last year.

Senior Alex Wieser did not play in the game due to a broken pinkie on her non-shooting hand. Wieser says she'll be ready to go for Saturday's game at St. Louis-Notre Dame.