Panthers sweep rival Princeton

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on February 3, 2004 2:00 PM

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KENLY -- After not being able to practice in more than a week, first-year Princeton boys' basketball coach Jeff Davis understood poor shooting stretches or a scattered defensive breakdown Monday night at rival North Johnston.

However, Davis was not pleased with the lack of effort his team displayed in the late stages of a 57-37 Class 1-A Carolina Conference loss.

A strong run pushed the Panthers' lead to 39-23 after three periods, but the Bulldogs closed to within 10 near the five-minute mark before North Johnston (8-11, 3-5 Carolina 1-A) easily pulled away.

The Bulldogs (2-18, 0-9) and Panthers meet again tonight in Princeton.

"We played hard until the last five minutes," Davis said. "I thought we quit, and we went through a point where we panicked when they pressed. We should be past the panic stage.

"If you can't get motivated for North Johnston in your gym after they beat you by 20, you can't get motivated for nobody."

In the girls game, the Lady Panthers' press defense forced a number of Princeton's 46 turnovers as North Johnston (15-4, 5-3) converted many to easy baskets into an easy 88-19 win.

All 12 Panthers scored by the third period, led by 15 points each from Krystal Atkinson and Helen Moore, while Janna Rogerson added 14 points.

North Johnston girls coach David Bagwell was pleased with his reserves ability to maintain their intensity.

"It didn't matter who was on the floor, we played hard," Bagwell said. "Even when the second group stepped in there, we are doing a better job of passing the ball into the post. They all did a good job when they got in."

The boys game proved to be a defensive struggle, especially early on. Princeton's box-and-one defense against leading scorer and point guard Jake Lomonaco limited his effectiveness as North Johnston used a tough, man-to-man defense to contain the Bulldogs' Karter Yutzy.

Princeton was just five-of-22 from the floor in the first half, while its Johnston rivals made just eight-of-30.

After intermission, North Johnston used more pressure defense and seemed to feed off of it offensively. Brad Holloman canned two three-pointers in the third period that put the momentum in the Panthers' favor for good. North Johnston's 35 second half points nearly equaled Princeton's 37 for the game.

"The first part of the game, we played the style of basketball they wanted to play, but we started pressing and did some things to try to increase the pace of the game," North Johnston coach David Johnson said. "Brad hit some big three-pointers to increase the gap."

Despite being in foul trouble for most of the game, Lomonaco finished with a team-high 15 points, including 12 in the second half. Willie Smith had a solid game in the post for the Panthers, scoring 13 points and pulling down 18 rebounds against an undersized Princeton team.

"I thought our ability to dominate the glass was the big key to the game," Johnson said.

Yutzy finished with 15 points to lead Princeton. Brandon Pate added 12 points for the Bulldogs.

Girls

Princeton 6 4 2 7 -- 19

North Johnston 23 24 26 15 -- 88

PRINCETON (4-16, 2-7)

Michelle Gray 2 0 2-2 6, Samantha Davenport 2 0 1-2 5, C.C. Sanders 2 0 0-1 4, Nicole Hargis 1 0 0-0 2, Heather Braswell 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 8 0 3-5 19.

NORTH JOHNSTON (15-4, 5-3)

Krystal Atkinson 4 2 1-2 15, Helen Moore 7 0 1-2 15, Janna Rogerson 7 0 0-0 14, Shanice Williams 4 0 0-0 8, Brandi Brinchek 4 0 0-1 8, Stephanie Norris 2 1 0-2 7, Stefanie Jones 3 0 0-2 6, Brandy Holland 2 0 1-1 5, Lakisha McFadden 2 0 0-0 4, Caroline Hines 1 0 2-2 4, Amanda Pope 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 26 3 7-13 88.

Three-point baskets - North Johnston 3 (Atkinson 2, Norris). Turnovers - Princeton 46, North Johnston 16. Total fouls - Princeton 12, North Johnston 12. Fouled out - Gray. Technicals - none.

Boys

Princeton 8 7 8 14 -- 37

North Johnston 10 12 17 18 -- 57

PRINCETON (2-18, 0-9)

Karter Yutzy 5 0 5-5 15, Brandon Pate 1 3 1-2 12, Diandre Dublin 3 0 0-0 6, Josh Thompson 1 0 0-0 2, Daniel Gerrell 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 11 3 6-7 37.

NORTH JOHNSTON (8-11, 3-5)

Jake Lomonaco 3 1 6-8 15, Willie Smith 4 0 5-9 13, Brad Holloman 2 2 0-0 10, Antonio Humphrey 2 1 0-0 7, Damien Allen 3 0 0-0 6, Brandon Sanders 2 0 0-0 4, Chris Marshall 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 17 4 11-17 57.

Three-point baskets - Princeton 3 (Pate 3), North Johnston 4 (Holloman 2, Lomonaco, Humphrey). Turnovers - Princeton 19, North Johnston 13. Total fouls - Princeton 16, North Johnston 16. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.