Prep basketball -- Saints sweep CBA

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on December 8, 2004 1:57 PM

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DUDLEY -- Balance.

The one word summed up Southern Wayne's boys' effort on Tuesday at home against Charles B. Aycock. Fueled by four, double-digit scorers and some key defensive stops down the stretch, the Saints claimed an 80-74 win over their visiting county rival

Southern Wayne needed every bit of the full team effort to counter the Falcons and junior forward Santavin Poole. Poole poured in a career-high 43 points and pulled down 15 rebounds -- scoring at least eight in each period.

"He (Poole) was unbelievable. He did a great job and that's where we are a little weak right now. Our guards have got to help out down in the post," said Saints coach Mike Connelly, whose team improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. "We have been very balanced. I don't know if we've had a player score more than 14 points in a game."

Poole's individual effort was obviously impressive, but coach David West was quick to point out the efforts of his teammates.

"He's really maturing into a great post player. He's got a lot of tools and a lot ways to beat you," West said. "You've got four other guys who got the ball to him. Some of our entry passes from our guards were really tremendous."

In the girls game, Saints' point guard Dionne Dotson scored a game-best 20 points as the Saints (3-3, 2-1) held on for a 49-43 victory despite scoring just one basket in the final period. Emily Stewart and Quaneisha Milner posted 12 points each for the Falcons (1-6, 0-2 ECC), who had seven costly turnovers in a tight, fourth period.

"Down the stretch, we need to protect the basketball and execute better," Aycock coach Gary Hales said. "We tried to rush a little bit. Other than the first quarter, I'm proud of the effort we gave tonight."

The boys contest proved to be a game of runs as the Saints -- keyed by seven points from Derek Garris -- made their first convincing push late in the second quarter with an 11-2 swing. Garris finished with 13 points and six assists.

Despite Poole's prowess down low, the Saints continued to stretch that lead in the third period -- going up 51-40 with under three minutes left on Austin Hood's driving lay-up.

The fourth quarter saw Aycock (2-5, 0-2) outscore the home team 10-0 to start the period as Poole, who scored most of his points down low, drove three-quarters of the floor to get his team within one at 56-55. Southern Wayne's Akeem Royal, who had 11 of his 14 points in the fourth, answered with a jumper before Michael Gurganus drilled a deep, three-pointer to tie the game at 58-58 midway through the fourth.

Royal and Terriel Troublefield provided big steals and converted them into baskets on the other end, while a Royal three-pointer gave Southern Wayne a 71-67 edge with just under two minutes left. The Falcons got to within two once more before the Saints held on for the win.

"We started rushing a little bit and let them right back in it," Connelly said. "They got it to 61-60 and I thought we got serious again and started playing well."

Delawn Armwood added 12 points for the Saints, while Hood posted 10 points. Antonio Davis and Troublefield paced Southern Wayne on the boards with 10 and nine rebounds, respectively.

Much like the boys game, the girls game came down to the final minutes.

Aycock's Jazzmine Lee provided a steal and lay-up to get her team to within one at 42-41 with two minutes left, but the Falcons had four turnovers after the basket that thwarted any chance to overcome Dotson and the Saints. Dotson knocked down five-of-seven from the free-throw line in the fourth as the Saints shot nine-of-11 as a team in the final period.

Shakoria Clark added 11 points for Southern Wayne, while Shelonda Smith had 10 points and seven rebounds. Erin Medford had a team-high, six rebounds for Aycock.

"We come out strong, then we let down in the second and fourth quarter. This system is new to them," first-year Saint coach Sally Combs said. "Defensively, I'm still not happy. We still have to work a lot harder on defense."

Both teams return to action at home on Friday as the Saints host Greenville J.H. Rose, while the Falcons entertain Kinston.

Girls game

C.B. Aycock 2 15 12 14 -- 43

Southern Wayne 9 10 18 12 -- 48

C.B. AYCOCK

Emily Stewart 6 0 0-0 12, Quaneisha Milner 3 0 6-7 12, Keyata Pettiford 3 0 1-4 7, Jasmine Dobbin 2 0 0-0 4, Alisa Dobbin 0 0 2-2 2, Jazzmine Lee 2 0 0-0 4, Erin Medford 1 0 0-2 2. TOTALS -- 17 0 9-15 43.

SOUTHERN WAYNE

Dionne Dotson 5 2 6-9 20, Shakoria Clark 3 1 2-3 11, Shelonda Smith 3 0 4-4 10, Eboney Darden 2 0 1-5 5, Demiri Blount 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 14 3 13-21 43.

Three-point baskets -- Southern Wayne 3 (Dotson 2, Clark 1). Turnovers -- C.B. Aycock - 20, Southern Wayne 25. Total fouls -- C.B. Aycock 20, Southern Wayne 13. Fouled out -- Milner, Pettiford. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

C.B. Aycock 14 19 12 29 -- 74

Southern Wayne 18 20 18 24 -- 80

C.B. AYCOCK

Santavin Poole 17 0 9-13 43, Michael Gurganus 2 2 0-0 10, Brandon Hobbs 2 1 0-0 7, Rob Phillips 3 0 0-0 6, Montrel Sims 2 0 0-0 4, Bryan Moore 1 0 0-0 2, Lamont Scarborough 1 0 0-0 2, Erik Langston 0 0 0-1 0. TOTALS -- 28 3 9-14 74.

SOUTHERN WAYNE

Delawn Armwood 3 1 3-4 12, Derek Garris 2 2 3-4 13, Akeem Royal 3 2 2-2 14, Austin Hood 5 0 0-1 10, Antonio Davis 3 0 1-2 7, Justin Bellamy 1 1 2-2 7, Terriel Troublefield 4 0 0-0 8, Rico Whitfield 1 0 0-0 2, Derrick Lathan 0 1 0-0 3, Jai Maye 1 0 0-0 2, Montrel Vick 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 24 7 11-15 80.

Three-point baskets -- C.B. Aycock 3 (Gurganus 2, Hobbs), Southern Wayne 7 (Garris 2, Royal 2, Armwood, Bellamy, Lathan. Turnovers -- C.B. Aycok 18, Southern Wayne 16. Total fouls -- C.B. Aycock 16, Southern Wayne 18. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.