North Lenoir and Tarboro High

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 5, 2004 2:00 PM

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LAGRANGE -- Melvin Lynch walked into Heather Humphrey's office and phoned home.

"Is Chanee up?" Lynch asked.

After a few seconds, Lynch passed a message along to his daughter, North Lenoir senior Chanee Lynch.

"Tell her the girls won," he said to Chanee's grandmother.

Chanee Lynch battled flu-like symptoms throughout Tuesday's contest with Greene Central, but a 103-degree temperature sidelined her for Wednesday's pivotal battle against Tarboro High. But her teammates responded in Lynch's absence and knocked off the Vikings 57-33 in Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference play.

Leon Best and Kevin Lee each notched a double-double as the Hawks dispatched the Vikings 79-59 in the boys' game. North Lenoir remained within one game of league-leading and state-ranked North Pitt, which visits Wooten Gymnasium on Friday.

Hawks girls coach Wayne Floyd gushed with pride outside the locker room after the game.

"I'm proud of them," he said. "When your floor boss is not here, not able to play, you've got to have some people to step up and have a great game."

North Lenoir received solid production from Tammy Moye, Katy Maloney and Shannon Plymouth. The trio combined for 34 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists. They proved to be key elements in a 20-5 run which started late in the second period and consumed the entire third quarter.

Tarboro (11-8, 4-3 EPC) built a four-point lead by attacking the Hawks' defense and crashing the boards. They also kept several North Lenoir players in foul trouble, particularly Lonnie Jones, who prefers to bang bodies inside despite standing just 5-foot-9. Jones collected her third foul early in the second quarter.

But when the Hawks found their offensive rhythm, the Vikings became passive on offense. They abandoned their attacking style and preferred to shoot from the perimeter. That decision suited North Lenoir, which grabbed long rebounds or collected steals by overplaying the passing lanes.

Plymouth and Maloney combined for 12 points in the third quarter. Reserves Tiera Broadie and Shalonia Newkirk each hit a key basket as the Hawks owned a comfortable 42-28 lead after three quarters.

"Katy played a great game and the kids, like Tiera and Newkirk, who came off the bench played a great game," Floyd said. "They knew they had to step up and make a difference.

"They did."

Tarboro hit just three field goals and five free throws in the second half.

Maloney and Plymouth finished with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Seven Hawks got into the scoring act as North Lenior seized its 19th win in 21 tries. The Hawks carry a 6-1 EPC worksheet into their next game against North Pitt.

The Viking boys (4-15) controlled the boards early, executed well in their transition game and built a 12-2 lead. The Hawks missed a few outside shots and couldn't loosen up Tarboro's 2-3 zone in the first five minutes of contest.

"In high school basketball, it's hard to play back-to-back nights," said Hawks coach Charlie Stevens, whose team throttled Greene Central on Tuesday. "They jumped out front and then they got flat. We started out flat. That's typical of high school basketball."

Lee and Best began asserting themselves on the boards, combining for 10 rebounds as North Lenoir pulled within 15-13 at the end of the first quarter. Justin Dunn's last-second, electrifying two-handed dunk sent the Hawk Krazies into a frenzy and woke up a silent crowd.

John Cobb's baseline jumper tied the game at 23-23 midway through the second period. North Lenoir claimed its first lead, 25-23, on Dunn's layup off Jamie Mason's open-court assist with less than three minutes to go. Tarboro tied the score on its next possession, but the Hawks closed out the half with a 14-4 run.

"We started making shots," Stevens said. "They missed a few shots, made a few turnovers and we were playing good defense.

"I'm real pleased that we came back and took control of the game."

Tarboro climbed within single digits, 55-46, toward the end of the third period.

Best's steal and dunk, and then his 3-pointer off a Tarboro turnover boosted the score to 60-46. The Vikings never threatened again as they remained in the EPC cellar at 1-6.

Dunn led all scorers with 23 points. Cobb added 22. Best provided 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Lee chipped in 13 points and 13 rebounds. Lee and Dunn combined to shoot 93 percent (13-of-14) from the free throw line.

Tim Vines led Tarboro with 12.

Girls

Tarboro 10 12 5 6 -- 33

N. Lenoir 13 12 17 15 -- 57

TARBORO (11-8, 4-3 EPC)

Takeria Thorne 1 0 0-2 2, Cassandra Jones 2 0 0-0 4, Nicole Thomas 0 0 1-2 1, Courtney Jarrell 0 0 0-0 0, Ashley Anderson 3 0 2-6 8, JaQuannah Pittman 0 0 0-0 0, Kanesha Mercer 3 0 3-5 9, Liz Brown 2 0 5-10 9. TOTALS -- 11 0 11-25 33.

NORTH LENOIR (19-2, 6-1)

LeMonica Rasberry 0 1 1-2 4, Tiera Broadie 2 0 0-0 4, Shannon Plymouth 6 0 4-5 16, Sade Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Lonnie Jones 3 0 2-4 8, Katy Maloney 7 0 5-6 19, Shalonia Newkirk 1 0 0-0 2, Tammy Moye 0 1 1-2 4, Jessica Dunn 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 19 2 13-19 57.

Three-point baskets -- North Lenoir 2 (Rasberry, Moye). Turnovers -- North Lenoir 17, Tarboro 17. Total fouls -- North Lenoir 20, Tarboro 16. Fouled out -- L. Jones, Moye. Technicals -- none.

Boys

Tarboro 15 12 19 13 -- 59

N. Lenoir 13 24 18 24 -- 79

TARBORO (4-15, 1-6)

Tim Vines 3 2 0-0 12, Teyon Belcher 2 1 3-6 10, Ryan Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Marcus Cherry 3 0 1-2 7, Jontae Sherrod 3 0 0-0 6, LaCedrick Mays 1 0 0-0 2, Brandon Herring 1 0 0-0 2, Craig Brown 5 0 0-0 10, Keith Brown 1 0 0-0 2, Terry Jordan 2 0 0-0 4, Areyas Pittman 2 0 0-2 4. TOTALS -- 23 3 4-10 59.

NORTH LENOIR (17-4, 5-2)

John Cobb 7 2 2-8 22, Jamie Mason 1 0 3-5 5, Leon Best 2 3 2-4 15, Justin Dunn 7 1 6-6 23, E.J. Brown 0 0 0-1 0, Samuel Edwards 0 0 0-2 0, Omar Jones 0 0 1-4 1, C.J. Sherrod 0 0 0-2 0, Calvin Super 0 0 0-0 0, Kevin Lee 3 0 7-8 13, Russell Rouse 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 20 6 21-40 79.

Three-point baskets -- North Lenoir 6 (Best 3, Cobb 2, Dunn); Tarboro 3 (T. Vines 2, Belcher). Turnovers -- North Lenoir 22, Tarboro 14. Total fouls -- North Lenoir 11, Tarboro 26. Fouled out -- Cherry. Technicals -- none.