Warrior boys claim 3rd straight victory

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on December 12, 2004 2:01 AM

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After starting the season 0-4, Eastern Wayne's boys basketball team won their third-straight with a 91-78 victory at New Hope over West Craven in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play.

The Warriors (3-4 overall) improved their conference slate to 3-1 heading into next Friday's match-up at archrival Goldsboro. West Craven (0-6 overall) fell to 0-4 against league foes.

Keyed by an improved fourth quarter performance, Eastern Wayne's girls (3-4 overall) also improved to 3-1 in the ECC with a 53-46 win over the Eagles (1-5, 1-3). The Warriors outscored West Craven 12-0 in the final 2:30 on their way to the win.

Yasmine Washington paced Eastern Wayne with 18 points, while Sierra King added 17 points.

"Yasmine is doing a good job as a sophomore and she's still learning," Eastern Wayne coach Brent Holland said. "Sierra may have not played as well as she has in the first six games, but the other girls have to step up when she's a little off."

Early in the third period, the Warrior boys stretched their lead to 53-26 after a three-pointer by Justin Richardson -- capping a 15-4 run at the 3:20 mark. After a sluggish start, Eastern Wayne caught fire and outscored the Eagles 50-30 in the second and third periods. Richardson finished with a team-high, 21 points.

"I was real pleased at that point. I can't say enough about that span of time," Warrior boys coach Marvin Bowman said. "Everybody was in the right place at the right time. Even when we missed, someone was there.

"We are starting to put some things together, but we still got a way to go."

Already with three starters in double figures -- Richardson, Adrian Kendrick and Chris Campbell -- Eastern Wayne coach Marvin Bowman expanded his reserve player's minutes in the second half. Meanwhile, West Craven left its starters on the floor and point guard Tony Jones led a comeback that put his team within nine at 75-66 with three minutes left. Jones finished with a game-high, 30 points, including 21 in the final period.

Down the stretch, the Warrior starters returned to the floor and finished out the game with solid free-throw shooting and improved ball-handling.

The two teams combined for 64 points in the fourth with West Craven outscoring the Warriors 38-28.

"I wanted to give the reserves the opportunity to get a feel for the game," Bowman said. "I feel like they could have done a better job. When you get up by 30 points, I don't feel good about extending a lead like that."

Kendrick finished with 16 points, while Campbell added 12 points down low. For the game, Eastern Wayne shot a whopping, 44 free-throws and made 32 (73 percent).

The foul line played a big role in the girls game as well.

West Craven made six more shots from the floor than the home team, but Washington and Eastern Wayne got to the line 17 more times than the Eagles. The Warriors finished 19-for-29 from the stripe, while West Craven was just three-for-12.

Turnovers plagued both girls' teams. Eastern Wayne committed 31, and West Craven had 29 miscues.

"We were a little flat. We found a way to win, and that's a credit to our seniors," Holland said. "We got a little out of control and found ourselves out of position. We get excited when we steal it, but then we would turn it right back over. That stops spurts."

In a game of shifting momentum, West Craven took its largest lead of the game at 42-37 with four minutes left in the fourth. Eventually, Eastern Wayne cut the lead to two at 46-44 on a three-pointer by Washington with 2:30 left. Following the shot, Holland called a timeout and Eastern Wayne controlled the game down the stretch. The Warriors were 13-of-16 from the line in the fourth, many coming in the final two minutes.

Girls game

West Craven 11 8 13 14 -- 46

E. Wayne 11 12 10 20 -- 53

WEST CRAVEN (1-5, 1-3)

Chantale Rasberry 4 0 0-0 8, Keshia Hardy 6 0 1-2 13, Brittney Collins 1 0 0-0 2, Joyce Freeman 4 2 2-4 16, Leslie Jones 1 0 0-1 2, Jalessa Jones 1 0 0-4 2, Lisa Witt 1 0 0-0 2, Makeba Fay 0 0 0-1 1. TOTALS -- 18 2 3-12 46.

EASTERN WAYNE (3-4, 3-1)

Yasmine Washington 2 2 8-10 18, LaNiece Sims 1 0 4-6 6, Natasha Wiley 3 0 0-0 6, Sierra King 5 0 7-13 17, Jasmine McLamb 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 12 2 19-29 53.

Three-point baskets -- West Craven 2 (Freeman 2), Eastern Wayne 2 (Washington 2). Turnovers -- West Craven 29, Eastern Wayne 31. Total fouls -- West Craven 17, Eastern Wayne 9. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

West Craven 10 12 18 38 -- 78

E. Wayne 13 25 25 28 -- 91

WEST CRAVEN (0-6, 0-4)

Tony Jones 7 3 7-9 30, Jeremy Davis 6 0 1-2 13, Leon Duff 0 0 1-2 1, Matt Cuthbertson 1 2 2-3 10, Nieheem Clarke 3 1 0-0 9, Dontae Stewart 1 0 3-5 5, Caleb Wetherington 2 0 0-2 4, John Shepard 0 0 2-2 2, Pierre Cox 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 20 6 18-27 78.

EASTERN WAYNE (3-4, 3-1)

Justin Richardson 3 2 9-12 21, Adrian Kendrick 3 2 4-4 16, Chris Campbell 5 0 2-2 12, Donald Rouse 0 0 6-6 6, Adrienne Battle 2 0 0-0 4, Monty Best 1 0 2-4 4, Landon Downes 1 0 3-4 5, Theo Givens 2 1 1-1 8, Darren Ward 1 0 3-5 5, D'Adrian Worrell 2 0 0-0 4, Donald Atkinson 2 0 1-2 5, Michael Wilcox 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 22 4 32-44 91.

Three-point baskets -- West Craven 6 (Jones 3, Cuthbertson 2, Clarke), Eastern Wayne 4 (Richardson 2, Kendrick 2). Turnovers -- West Craven 19, Eastern Wayne 16. Total fouls -- West Craven 23, Eastern Wayne 21. Fouled out -- Davis, Downes.