Morales’ 29 Lead MCC to 97-63 Win Over Northern Essex

MANCHESTER -Sophomore Amanda Morales (West Hartford) had 29 points and was six for six from three-point range in the second half as MCC beat Northern Essex 97-63 Saturday afternoon at East Catholic. Jhenel Franklin (Windsor) had 13 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and six steals while Shanika Hines (Manchester) had 23 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Cougars scored over 90 points for the second straight game and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Morales was one for seven in three-point attempts in the first half, but was perfect in six tries in the second half.

“We have some awesome guards – Shanika, Jhenel, Little Q (Maquachera Holder/Hartford)– they draw my defender and get me my shot,” Morales said. “When they drive and you don’t guard them, they are going to score on you, so the defender has to pull in.”

MCC held a 38-30 halftime lead, but trailed 29-28 before a 12-point run late in the first half.

“The first half was kind of gritty, they hung with us,” Morales noted. But the Cougars opened things up in the second half and Coach Robert Turner was happy with what he saw.

“There were some points today when they were kind of a little lackadaisical,” Turner said. “But in the second half they put it all together and that is the style of basketball we should be playing – up tempo, a lot of defense, a lot of deflections, a lot of steals and a lot of shots going up.”

Turner was expecting big things from Franklin, a sophomore transfer, but the point guard has shown more than the coach expected.

“She is someone that can help you in every area of the game,” Turner said. “She rebounds, she can score if you need her to, she can pass the ball unbelievably, she plays great defense and been pretty much stuffing the stat sheet.”

Despite the two impressive victories, Turner is not getting ahead of himself.

“It’s very early,” Turner said. “I think there are still a lot of things we need to work on. I know we scored in the 90’s the first two games, but I’m really happy with the level of intensity. They played very hard.”

MCC has a test on Thursday at 6pm in Holyoke against the other Cougars, in a return to the gym where its 2007-08 season ended in the Region XXI tournament.