Beddingfield-Knightdale

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 24, 2004 1:55 PM

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Dustin Maury's basket in the final minute proved to be the difference as Beddingfield nipped Knightdale 57-56 during the final day of the 2004 Cougar Holiday Classic at Goldsboro.

The teams traded turnovers and missed free throws in the last 20.2 seconds as the Bruins held on for their second victory of the season.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bruins emerged the Classic's lone unbeaten team with a 74-31 throttling of Knightdale.

Knightdale's boys opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run on baskets by Randolph Howell, Nate Wilkins and Malcom Jones. The Knights led 40-32 with 4:32 remaining and coerced the Bruin coaching staff to use a 30-second timeout.

Alfred Artis and Shante Finch hit back-to-back baskets, trimming Knightdale's advantage to 40-38. The Knights maintained their two-point advantage until Finch's driving layup near the third-period buzzer forged a 45-45 tie.

Aaron King's driving baseline layup, off Maury's assist, gave the Bruins their first lead of the second half 47-45. William Lane converted an old-fashioned three-point play, his only score of the evening, to push the Knights back in front 48-47.

Artis collected Beddingfield's next five points and staked his team to a 52-50 lead. Finch added a basket, putting the Bruins up by four with three minutes on the clock.

Knightdale climbed to within a point twice behind Chris Daniels, who drained two free throws and drilled a short jumper in the lane. However, the Knights couldn't get over the hump and endured their ninth loss in their first season of competition.

Artis paced three Bruins in double figures with 15 points, while Maury and Finch provided 14 apiece. Eight Bruins scratched in the scoring column as they improved to 2-6 overall heading into next week's Wilson Daily Times Classic.

Daniels emerged the Knights' top scorer with 14 points. Randolph Howell contributed 13, while Wilkins chipped in 12.

The Knightdale girls simply had no answer for the Bruins' speed, quickness and rebounding. Beddingfield dominated those three parts of the game for 32 minutes en route to its sixth victory in eight tries this season.

Eight Bruins scored in a 39-point first half. October Harris slashed her way to the basket for 16 points and finished with a game-high 23. Latroya Pope added 11, including seven in the first half. Jacobia Lucas and 6-foot-4 center Jean Best each notched seven points.

Nadia Marriott led Knightdale with 13 points. Jasmine Harris and Whitney Dewberry chipped in seven points apiece for the Knights, members of the Triangle Alliance 4-A Conference.

Girls game

Knightdale 7 9 11 4 -- 31

Beddingfield 18 21 21 14 -- 74

KNIGHTDALE (1-9)

Harris 2 1 0-1 7, Ashe Holmes 0 0 1-3 1, Minervini 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0 0-2 0, Nadia Marriott 2 1 6-8 13, Ransome 0 0 0-2 0, Dewberry 2 1 0-1 7, Parker 1 0 1-4 3. TOTALS -- 7 3 8-21 31.

BEDDINGFIELD (6-2)

Pender 1 0 0-0 2, Lucas 2 1 0-0 7, Simms 3 0 0-0 6, Farmer 0 0 1-2 1, Newby 2 0 1-2 5, October Harris 9 0 5-9 23, Minchew 0 0 0-0 0, Hooks 0 0 1-2 1, Latroya Pope 4 0 3-4 11, Johnson 2 0 1-1 5, Winstead 1 0 4-6 6, Best 3 0 1-4 7. TOTALS -- 27 1 17-30 74.

Three-point goals -- Knightdale 3 (Harris, Marriott, Dewberry), Beddingfield 1 (Lucas). Turnovers -- Knightdale 28, Beddingfield 18. Total fouls -- Knightdale 17, Beddingfield 15. Fouled out -- Parker. Technical fouls -- none.

Boys game

Knightdale 13 20 12 11 -- 56

Beddingfield 13 19 13 12 -- 57

KNIGHTDALE (3-9)

Jones 3 1 0-1 9, Young 1 0 0-0 2, Chris Daniels 6 0 2-2 14, Bland 1 0 1-2 3, Nate Wilkins 6 0 0-0 12, Randolph Howell 5 0 3-6 13, William Lane 1 0 1-1 3. TOTALS -- 23 1 7-12 56.

BEDDINGFIELD (2-6)

Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin Maury 4 1 3-4 14, Jones 1 0 0-1 2, Alfred Artis 6 0 3-4 15, King 2 0 0-0 4, Richardson 1 0 0-0 2, Shante Finch 6 0 2-6 14, Bynum 1 0 0-0 2, Brown 2 0 0-2 4. TOTALS -- 23 1 8-17 57.

Three-point goals -- Knightdale 1 (Jones), Beddingfield 1 (Maury). Turnovers -- Knightdale 20, Beddingfield 23. Total fouls -- Knightdale 12, Beddingfield 16. Fouled out -- Daniels, Finch. Technical fouls -- none.