Alexis Phillips was a workhorse for New Madrid County Central on Thursday against Charleston. The senior finished with a team-high 14 points, while also securing 12 rebounds, in the Lady Eagles 56-42 win, at Charleston High School. “We know we can count on Alexis, even when she’s not scoring, to come up with loose balls, deflections, tips, steals, big-time rebounds,” NMCC head coach Toby Heeb said. “We know her motor is always going to be there and I thought the other girls really stepped up.” NMCC (17-1) continued its excellent season by getting out to an early lead, and despite a second-quarter surge from the Lady Bluejays, had the game firmly in the grasp of their hands. Trailing 14-9 after the first quarter and 29-24 at halftime, Charleston (8-5) found a way to hang around in the first half, as it looked like the Lady Bluejays were gaining some momentum heading into the locker room. Applying pressure was the one thing that Charleston head coach Dollette Hall told her team to continue doing during that stretch. “I knew that they had No. 21 in foul trouble and I knew that the only one that they had out there was their ball handler,” Hall said. “I just told my girls at the top to put pressure on the ball; we’ve got to put pressure on the ball. If you pressure them, they’ll turn it over; we did that, started chipping back into the game and without pressure, with a team like this, you can’t beat them, you can’t come back.” Creating turnovers off of that pressure was one thing that Charleston was able to do, as they forced NMCC into 21 turnovers for the night. Consistent scoring, though, turned out to be the downfall for Hall’s group, in the end. In the third quarter, the Lady Bluejays couldn’t buy a basket. Charleston had six points in the period, while the Lady Eagles had 12 to put Charleston in a deep hole. Knowing the type of team that was going to be on the floor, Heeb told his team not to take Charleston lightly, which he discussed after the game. “They had a game plan and executed it, and what was tough for us today, was that we played Charleston earlier in the year and we beat them, and just adjusting to that; realizing that they’re improved and that’s what we’ve been preaching all week,” Heeb said. “They’ve got a ton better, and we had to really bring a good game tonight. We thought we had to battle through some adversity; some main players in foul trouble and some girls had to come in off the bench and step up. Down the stretch, we had to just get a little bit smarter and disciplined, and I think the last 2 1/2 minutes, we did a great job of that.”