The Yellow Jackets buzzed around the Tar Heels ball handlers stealing passes and creating turnovers and in the end they were able to fly away with a 32-15 victory in the eight- and nine-year-old division of the Washington Youth Basketball League.
The win was the Yellow Jackets (1-2) first of the season and after the game coach Marie Stanley and her team were thrilled to get a victory.
“It feels good,” Stanley said. “They played a lot better tonight.”
The Yellow Jackets were led by guard Micah Hardy who made several steals that were turned into fastbreak buckets as he led all scorers with 14 points.
“He’s a very good defensive player,” Stanley said. “He dives for the ball and makes a lot of steals.”
Tayquan Blackledge added seven points for the Yellow Jackets, while Zacchaeus Ebron scored four, Miller Lee tallied three and Luke Wallace, Mathew Clark, Javine Blackledge and Kanya Moore each score one.
“The biggest difference for us was that everybody chipped in,” Stanley said. “We played defense together and we played offense together.
“They’re learning. For some of these players it’s their first time playing and they’re learning and doing a good job.”
The Tar Heels got off to a slow start but picked up as the game went on and were led by Jameek Spencer who scored six points.
James Jordan scored five for the Tar Heels, while Kasey Alligood scored two points and Sha’Mari Parker and Malcolm Davis each scored one point.
“In the second half I thought we really came around,” Tar Heels coach Sam Crawford said. “We shot a lot better and started scoring a lot more.
“We gave it all we have. Like I tell the kids it’s just about going out there and having fun.”
The Yellow Jackets got off to a fast start thanks to a strong defensive effort that kept the Tar Heels scoreless as they took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
The Yellow Jackets erupted for 11 second-quarter points as Blackledge scored five, Ebron added three, Hardy chipped in two and Clark scored one to put the team ahead 18-6 after two quarters.
While the Yellow Jackets were able to post points, the key was their strong defensive play.
“We try to play a 2-3 (zone) and keep our big man in the middle,” Stanley said. “We tried to pressure them when they crossed half court and then made sure we tried to get back on defense and keep playing.”

Tar Heels    0    6    5    4    —    15
Yellow Jackets    7    11    9    5    —    32
Tar Heels (15)
Jameek Spencer 6, Kasey Alligood 2, James Jordan 5, Sha’ Mari Parker 1, Malcolm Davis 1.
Yellow Jackets (32)
Tayquan Blackledge 7, Micah Hardy 14, Luke Wallace 1, Zacchaeus  Ebron 4, Matthew Clark 1, Javine Blackledge 1, Miller Lee 3, Kanya Moore 1.