By Kenny Varner

COCOLAMUS – What a debut!

New East Juniata girls basketball coach Laurel Amey had her team primed and ready to go in the Tigers home opener.

“ I thought it was a great team win tonight. Everybody stepped up at different times and played their role well,” said Amey. “This was a great first win for us. It helps us build some confidence going into the season so I am really proud of them.”

Defensively the Lady Tigers held opponent Columbia Montoursville Vo-Tech to just three points in the first half en route to their 40-3 victory Monday night at the East Juniata gym.

Leading the way for East Juniata was Landyn Cramer. Cramer was a tough inside presence as she pulled down 12 first half rebounds and seven first quarter points as well as three steals and three assists in the dominating Lady Tigers 28-3 opening half surge. She finished with a game-high 15 points, 20 rebounds, five block, three assist and three steal performance.

“I’m really proud of our team and how we worked together and how we started meshing together when we were playing out there,” said Cramer. “I’m very proud of our girls and I hope we can build off this win.”

Teammates Kennedy Seigler-Lewis and Madison Snyder both finished with eight point each.

The Rams lone basket came from a triple by Taylor Nevius in the first quarter.

In the first, the Tigers went right to work.

Cramer scored her team’s first points as she collected her first rebound and sent it in to take the lead.

In the next East Juniata possession, Carolyn Dressler followed up with a triple from beyond the arc.

The Tigers center also was strong from the free throw line, posting 3-of-4. Her first two foul shots came at 5:01 in the quarter and she was automatic on both.

Lewis made it a 9-0 contest as she hit a field goal with just over four minutes.

East Juniata added a triple by Madison Snyder to extend the lead to 12-0.

At the 3:09 mark, Makaylyn Peters posted a jumper, hitting the 14th point for her team on the night.

The rams cut it to 11 when Nevius hit from downtown for her team’s first and last bucket of the game.

From there the Tigers ended the first period scoring going on a 5-0 run.

From there East Juniata never looked back as the defense clamped the door shut on the Columbia-Montoursville squad.

In the second, the Tigers got the ball to Snyder who quickly got hot, posting five of the team’s nine points in the stanza, making it a 28-3 tally.

After the intermission, East Juniata went right back to work and was able to score another eight points to put the game into the “Mercy Rule”.

Amey cleared her bench late in the third and in the final stanza to give some of her young players some valuable playing time.

Even with the bench players in, the Lady Tigers defense gave no ground as they finished with the 40-3 opening victory.

East Juniata  40, CMVT 3

CMVT 3  0  0. 0 –   3

EJ.     19  9  8. 4 – 40

Scorers: CMVT – Taylor Nevius 1 0-2 3. Totals 1 0-0 3. EJ – Landyn Cramer 6 3-4 15, Carolyn Dressler 1 0-0 3, Makeylyn Peters 2 0-0 4, Kennedy Seigler-Lewis 4 0-0 8, Madison Snyder 3 0-0 8, Kaelyn Walter 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-4 40.

Played but didn’t score: CMVT – Piper Karcher 0 0-0 0, Ava Greshko 0 0-0 0, Kayleigh Swank 0 0-2 0, Mackeely Boggs 0 0-0 0, Madison Roth 0 0-0 0, Ashlyn Smith 0 0-0 0,Julia Earl 0 0-0 0, Antoinette Miller 0 0-0 0 . EJ – Cali Wagner 0 0-0 0, Hayden Cook 0 0-0 0, Chloe Swartz 0 0-0 0, Riley Apple 0 0-0 0, Addison Eby 0 0-0 0, Brihana Brubaker 0 0-0 0, Maye Neimond 0 0-0 0, Addison Phillips 0 0-0 0, Lauren Smith 0 0-0 0.

Three point shots – CMVT – Nevius. EJ – Snyder 2, Dressler.