ECC 3-A thriller -- Joyner sparks Goldsboro in fourth quarter

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on December 19, 2004 2:00 AM

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Facing a 51-42 deficit late in the third period against archrival Eastern Wayne, Goldsboro's Daquan Joyner and his young teammates answered the challenge against a veteran Warrior squad.

Keyed by 12 points from Joyner, the Cougars opened the fourth on a 14-4 run -- eventually outscoring Eastern Wayne 20-10 in the final period to claim a 66-63 nail-biter in front of a packed house at the Cougar Den.

Joyner, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks -- his fifth triple-double in eight games.

"That's a great win for us at home ... great crowd and you can't say enough about our fans," Goldsboro coach Randy Jordan said. "I'm pleased with the things we did down the stretch. We executed well and we didn't make the mistakes we made Monday night at South Central.

"We knew we had to step it up defensively in the fourth quarter and create some transition baskets. We were able to do that and keep constant ball pressure on them."

Goldsboro's Tim Kornegay, who had 18 points off the bench, put his team up 66-60 with 30 seconds left, before Eastern Wayne's Darren Ward closed the lead to 66-63 with an old-fashioned, three-point play. Two Warrior possessions in the final 10 seconds ended in turnovers as the Cougars (7-1) held on for their fifth Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference win in six tries.

In the girls' game, Goldsboro charged out to a 21-2 lead with 2:50 left in the first half of a 53-28 win over the Warriors. Forwards Ashelyn James and Jessica Faison paced the Cougars with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Goldsboro (7-2l) improved to 6-0 in the ECC and stretched its regular-season conference win streak to 22 games.

"I think we did a good job of playing defense with the 3-2 zone, then we picked up the man-to-man," Goldsboro coach Gladys McClary said. "We did a really good job on the boards tonight. Our post players complement one another. They work very hard and they are in the weight room everyday."

Both Warriors teams fell to 3-5 overall and 3-2 against league foes. However, the Warrior boys -- with five senior starters -- seemed poised in the third period to improve on their conference mark.

Justin Richardson, who finished with a team-high 18 points, converted several easy baskets after receiving quick outlet passes on defensive rebounds to help his team out to a nine-point lead with 2:10 left in the third. Richardson had 11 points in a third period that saw the Warriors outscore Goldsboro 17-8.

"We had a great run in the third quarter. We were on cruise," Eastern Wayne coach Marvin Bowman said. "We got steals, we got rebounds and we converted. Our kids did an outstanding job of finding the open man. We had our run, but Goldsboro got the last one."

The Cougars steadily chipped away at the lead as Joyner knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner, then followed with a three-point play down low to pull his team within 55-54.

Eastern Wayne's Adrian Kendrick, who added 17 points, had a big three with three minutes left that tied the game at 60-60. Goldsboro took the lead for good on a quick feed to the post from De'onta Anderson to Joyner at the 1:40 mark.

The first half saw Joyner and Warrior center Chris Campbell stage an impressive battle in the paint with the big men combining for 22 points. Joyner had eight in the first, while Campbell answered with eight in the second -- including two, rousing slam dunks. Goldsboro held a 38-36 lead going into the second half.

Goldsboro's girls' 3-2 zone hindered Eastern Wayne from getting any close looks at the basket as the Warriors consistently settled for jump shots. The Cougars' trio of post players -- James, Faison and Carmille Early -- cleaned up the boards and combined for 22 rebounds.

Goldsboro led 25-9 at the half and never allowed more than 11 points in a single quarter. Yasmine Washington and Natasha Wiley posted nine points each for Eastern Wayne.

"I was really impressed with how they (Goldsboro) hit the boards," Eastern Wayne coach Brent Holland said. "We couldn't match them on the inside. We are extremely disappointed, but I did see some good things from some of the girls off the bench that we need to get in the rotation."

Goldsboro's boys and girls will play host to Knightdale on Dec. 22 on the first night of the Cougar Classic Christmas Tournament. Eastern Wayne's girls and boys will travel to North Lenoir's Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29. Both face South Lenoir on the opening day of the tourney.

Girls game

Eastern Wayne 2 7 8 11 -- 28

Goldsboro 12 12 11 17 -- 53

EASTERN WAYNE (3-5, 3-2)

Yasmine Washington 3 1 0-2 9, Natasha Wiley 4 0 1-2 9, Sierra King 3 0 2-4 8, Jasmine McLamb 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 11 1 3-8 28.

GOLDSBORO (7-2, 6-0)

Ashelyn James 7 0 3-12 17, Jessica Faison 6 0 2-3 14, Chevoya Jackson 4 0 3-5 11, Carmille Early 3 0 1-2 7, Mikeda Graham 1 0 0-0 2, Reneisha Graham 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 21 0 11-24 53.

Three-point baskets -- Eastern Wayne 1 (Washington). Turnovers -- Eastern Wayne 25, Goldsboro 19. Total fouls -- Eastern Wayne 16, Goldsboro 10. Fouled out -- McLamb. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

Eastern Wayne 15 21 17 10 -- 63

Goldsboro 19 19 8 20 -- 66

EASTERN WAYNE (3-5, 3-2)

Justin Richardson 6 2 0-0 18, Adrian Kendrick 3 3 2-2 17, Chris Campbell 7 0 0-2 14, Landen Downes 0 0 2-2 2, Theo Givens 2 0 1-2 5, Darren Ward 3 0 0-0 6. TOTALS -- 21 5 5-8 63.

GOLDSBORO (7-1, 5-1)

Daquan Joyner 7 2 4-5 24, Tim Kornegay 8 0 2-3 18, De'onta Anderson 3 0 2-4 8, Eric McLean 1 1 0-0 5, Clifton Lawson 0 1 2-2 5, Raheem Loftin 1 0 0-0 2, Joe Houpe 2 0 0-0 4. TOTALS -- 22 4 10-14 66.

Three-point baskets -- Eastern Wayne 5 (Kendrick 3, Richardson 2), Goldsboro 4 (Joyner 2, McLean, Lawson). Turnovers -- Eastern Wayne 18, Goldsboro 17. Total fouls -- Eastern Wayne 11, Goldsboro 9. Fouled out -- none. Technicals -- none.