Saint boys climb to 5-0 in ECC

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 19, 2004 2:00 AM

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DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne's varsity basketball coaches could register no complaints after splitting a Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference doubleheader with Washington.

The Saints boys (7-4) remained undefeated in five ECC outings with a 74-59 decision. The Saints girls, minus first-year head coach Sally Combs, fell 53-50 and slipped below the .500 mark at 4-5.

Assistant girls coach Chuck Crumpler filled in for Combs, who was called out of town. Southern Wayne turned in a balanced offensive attack with solid efforts from Dionne Dotson, Shakoria Clark, Shelonda Smith and Ebony Darden. Clark emerged the top scorer with 15 points.

Southern Wayne played strong defensively in the final quarter. The Saints converted two steals and two turnovers to take a 38-35 lead at the 7-minute, 22-second mark.

They led 47-46 lead with 1:59 remaining when the bottom dropped out. Washington reeled off seven consecutive points to put the game out of reach.

The Saints' Achilles heel was at the free throw line. Washington went seven for 11 in the fourth quarter. Southern Wayne made it to the charity stripe four times, and could not convert.

"We continue to improve," said Crumpler. "Turnovers went down. We controlled the ball better. Unfortunately, some of our shots just didn't go in."

Southern Wayne entertains archrival Eastern Wayne on Jan. 4.

In the boys' game, Washington played with the Saints for the first half of the opening quarter. Alex Brailsford's basket and Akeem Royal's 3-pointer pushed the Saints ahead 11-8. Although Washington closed on its next possession to 11-10, it was never close again.

Southern Wayne played a fundamentally sound game. Besides outrebounding its opponent 27-22, the Saints committed only nine personal fouls on the night, not being charged with their first until 7:32 of the second quarter. They also committed 19 turnovers.

The Saints' only problem was dealing with Calvin Daniels.

They couldn't and didn't. Although shut out in the second quarter, the 6-foot-3 junior hit for 33 points on the night. His offensive efforts cut the lead to single digits, 47-40, late in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Delawn Armwood and consecutive baskets by Rico Whitfield and Royal moved the margin back to 55-42 by the end of the period.

Royal led his club in scoring with 19 points, followed by Austin Hood with 13.

"We're not big, so we've got to play quickly, but not rush," said coach Mike Connelley. "That's exactly what we did out there tonight. We had great point distribution. Everyone in the line up scored. Great teams have balanced scoring.

"We can't rely on just one man."

Southern Wayne returns to action Dec. 28 in the White Oak Holiday Tournament in Jacksonville. The Saints oppose New Bern at 3 p.m.

Girls game

Washington 9 13 13 18 -- 53

Southern Wayne 13 11 10 16 -- 50

WASHINGTON (1-8, 0-5)

Meredith Knox 3 4 1-3 19; Shawna Ervin 2 1 5-8 12; Nicole Hardy 3 0 3-4 9; Samantha Smith 3 0 1-2 7; Lakia Harvey 1 0 3-4 5; Tanisha Boston 0 0 1-4 1. TOTALS -- 12 5 14-21 53.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (4-5)

Shakoria Clark 4 2 1-3 15; Dionne Dotson 4 1 0-2 11; Shelonda Smith 3 0 2-4 8; Ebony Darden 3 0 1-2 7; Christy Dixon 1 0 1-2 3; Talisa Robinson 1 0 0-2 2; Danielle Wilkins 1 0 0-0 2; Felicia Martin 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 18 3 5-15 50.

Three-point baskets -- Washington 5 (Knox 4, Ervin), Southern Wayne 3 (Clark 2, Dotson). Total fouls -- Washington 11, Southern Wayne 16. Turnovers -- Washinton 24, Southern Wayne 21. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

Washington 14 13 15 17 -- 59

Southern Wayne 23 20 12 19 -- 74

WASHINGTON (4-5, 2-3)

Calvin Daniels 9 4 3-4 33; Nigel Rogers 2 1 1-2 8; Kerry Jones 3 0 0-0 6; Brandon Rogers 2 0 2-4 6; Tremayne Spencer 2 0 0-0 4; Jovany Angeles 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 19 5 6-10 59.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (6-3, 5-0)

Akeem Royal 4 3 2-3 19; Austin Hood 5 0 3-6 13; Rico Whitfield 5 0 1-4 11; Antonio Davis 4 0 0-0 8; Montral Vick 3 0 0-0 6; Derek Garris 2 0 0-0 4; Alex Brailsford 2 0 0-0 4; Delawn Armwood 0 1 0-0 3; Justin Bellamy 1 0 0-0 2; Jae Maye 1 0 0-0 2; Terriel Troublefield 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 28 4 6-13 74.

Three-point baskets -- Washington 5 (Daniels 4, Rogers), Southern Wayne 4 (Royal 3, Armwood). Total fouls -- Washington 15, Southern Wayne 9. Turnovers -- Washington 19, Southern Wayne 19. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.