Rosewood teams come alive in the second half

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on December 5, 2004 2:01 AM

• Print
• Email

With the Class 1-A Carolina Conference schedule beginning Tuesday, Rosewood's girls and boys basketball teams displayed the kind of second-half performances on Friday against Lakewood that should give them plenty of confidence heading into their league openers on Tuesday at Farmville Central.

The Eagle girls picked up their first win of the season -- yielding only 12 points in the second half in a 49-33 win over the Leopards. Rosewood's Jessica Hill led the way with 18 points, 16 coming after intermission as the Eagles outscored Lakewood 32-12.

"Jessica is one of the best players in the state. We're very fortunate to have her," Rosewood coach Jerry Narron said. "She does a great job in whatever you asked her to do."

In the boys tilt, Lakewood never scored more than nine points in a single quarter, while the Eagles (3-0) controlled the offensive and defensive boards in a 47-33 victory to remain unbeaten in three games.

Four Rosewood players had at least nine points each in a game that proved to be a defensive struggle. Kyle Bunn led all scorers with 11 points, while Kyle Grey and Danny Langston provided 10 points each and Antell Richards chipped in nine.

Facing a mixture of Eagle defenses, Lakewood managed just five, second-half field goals and 15 points after intermission. Meanwhile, Rosewood came alive after a sluggish third quarter to hit the Leopards with a 12-0 run to start the fourth -- taking an insurmountable 40-25 lead. Eagle point guard Dustin Overman had a couple of nice assists inside to Holt Rains and Grey during the run.

"It started clicking a little bit for us. Dustin was able to get by his man ... good passes by him and good finishes by the guys in the post," Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell said.

The first half saw both teams put together solid stretches, before Bunn's old-fashioned, three-point play gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead with 3:45 left in the second period. Rosewood never lost the advantage from there and went on to outscore the visitors from Roseboro 10-3 before the first half horn.

"It was a physical game and I think we tend to like those kind of games. I thought defense was the key," Mitchell said. "We were able to put pressure on them and rebound. We are excited about the 3-0 start, but we understand we need to work harder."

After going 23-30 from the free-throw line in Thursday's win at Midway, the Eagles shot a stout, 17-28 on Friday.

Rosewood's girls (1-2) overcame a 20-17 halftime deficit in their win -- keyed by a 12-0 stretch to start the second half. Hill had nine points in the big third period, including a three-pointer after a Lakewood turnover that made the Eagle margin 34-25 late in the third.

Costly to the Leopards, point guard and team catalyst Keshaun Mozee fouled out with 27 seconds left in the third and was riddled with foul trouble beginning in the second quarter.

Shanita Monroe and Clare Narron added eight points each for Rosewood, while Hannah Aycock played a lot of minutes off of the bench, scoring six points and grabbing plenty of rebounds.

"They've had two tough games against Midway and those girls came out and played hard the entire ball game. It showed a lot about their heart and character," Narron said. "We played well defensively. We had some girls tonight block out real well."

"We've had plenty of practice with that playing the big girl (Lauren Cochran) from Midway."

Both Lakewood teams exited the game at 0-2 on the season.

Girls game

Lakewood 12 8 6 6 -- 33

Rosewood 11 6 17 15 -- 49

LAKEWOOD (0-2)

Vonnie McNeil 2 2 0-0 10, Lindsey Benton 1 1 3-4 8, Demetriaus Moore 2 0 1-2 5, Keshaun Mozee 3 0 0-0 6, Angela Dover 1 0 0-1 2, Meleana Johnson 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 10 3 4-7 33.

ROSEWOOD (1-2)

Jessica Hill 5 2 2-2 18, Shanita Monroe 4 0 0-0 8, Stephanie Rhodes 2 0 1-2 5, Clare Narron 4 0 0-0 8, Latitia Wade 1 0 0-0 2, Hannah Aycock 3 0 0-0 6, Kasie Braswell 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 17 2 3-4 49.

Three-point baskets -- Lakewood 3 (McNeil 2, Benton), Rosewood 2 (Hill 2). Turnovers -- Lakewood 32, Rosewood 23. Total fouls -- Lakewood 13, Rosewood 7. Fouled out -- Mozee. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

Lakewood 9 9 7 8 -- 33

Rosewood 9 15 4 19 -- 47

LAKEWOOD (0-2)

Myron Hailey 0 0 2-2 2, Stevie Owens 0 1 1-2 4, Willie Williams 2 0 0-0 4, Travis Salazar 0 0 1-2 1, Johnnie Warren 0 0 1-2 1, Josh Owens 3 0 0-0 6, Joe Warren 2 0 1-2 5, James Woodard 2 0 0-1 4, Jerrell Council 0 0 1-2 1, Melvin 1 0 0-3 2, Eric Bullard 1 0 0-0 2, Michael Billinger 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 11 1 8-18 33.

ROSEWOOD (3-0)

Dustin Overman 0 0 1-4 1, Jason Scarborough 0 0 2-4 2, Kyle Bunn 2 0 7-7 11, Danny Langston 4 0 2-5 10, Antell Richards 3 0 3-4 9, Holt Rains 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Grey 4 0 2-4 10. TOTALS -- 14 0 17-28 47.

Three-point baskets -- Lakewood 1 (S. Owens). Turnovers -- Lakewood 15, Rosewood 17. Total fouls -- Lakewood 22, Rosewood 16. Fouled out -- J. Owens, S. Owens. Technical fouls -- J. Owens.