A new era began for the East Davidson Lady Golden Eagles Tuesday night on the hardwood, but the outcome remained the same for at least one night.

With a new coach and totally different look, East overcame a ragged start, overwhelming Trinity in the second half to win 49-37 in their season opener at home.

The Golden Eagles trailed 13-8 after the first quarter and led by two at the half, but a strong third quarter helped build an eight-point lead they would build on in the fourth. Haley Grimsley paced East with 17 points, while Stacy Hicks added 12 points and Candace Fox 11. Fox also had six steals and three assists.

“You could tell in the first quarter or two it was our first game of the season, but as the game progressed we kept getting better and better, so that was a good sign to see,” said first-year head coach Brian Eddinger.

Coming out of halftime, the Lady Bulldogs tied the game with a Courtney Cox layup under the basket. Grimsley swished a 3-pointer from the wing to put East up by three, then Hicks took center-stage over the final six minutes of the quarter. The senior scored 10 straight points for the Eagles, finished by a pair of 3s 23 seconds apart. By that time East had built a 37-29 advantage with a quarter to play.

Trinity made things interesting with four minutes remaining chipping away at the lead to get within four, but a 9-1 run by the Eagles shut the door to keep the Bulldogs out.

Defense was the driving force behind the strong second half of the Eagles. With not a lot of size on the inside, boxing out is extremely important for East. They were able to force a lot of one-and-done trips for Trinity, something they had trouble doing in the opening 16 minutes.

“When you start limiting teams on second chance points, that gives you a good advantage on defense,” Eddinger said.

A guard-laden team, East did find themselves settling for shots from behind the arc. Eddinger would like to eliminate some of that as the season progresses.

“I have a feeling that is probably the way the season will go for a little while,” he said. “We are trying to work more on getting that dribble penetration and getting in there to the post, but right now we are still trying to feel things out and see where we are. Hopefully, we are heading in the right direction with that.”

Sports Editor Zach Kepley can be reached at 888-3631, or at kepley@tvilletimes.com.