Aycock boys upset Goldsboro; Chargers hold off Eagles

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on December 31, 2004 1:57 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- What a difference a month makes for the Charles B. Aycock boys basketball team.

Seven games removed from being dominated in all facets and losing by 39 points at Goldsboro, the Golden Falcons redeemed themselves with a nail-biting, 77-74 win over the Cougars in the championship game of the Falcon Holiday Invitational.

After Goldsboro's Tim Kornegay, who finished with a game-high 24 points, cut the lead to 75-74 with a lay-up with four seconds left, Aycock senior Montrel Sims stepped up and made two-of-two at the line to put his team back up by three. Sims finished with 16 points, including 11 in the second half.

"Montrel got fouled and he hit his two free-throws," Aycock coach David West said. "That's a senior up there and that takes a big-hearted kid to stand up there and do that. I thought he (Sims) played his butt off the whole tournament."

"We were blasted and embarrassed when we went to Goldsboro, but I'm glad my kids had that bad taste in their mouth from that game."

The Cougars (9-3) got the ensuing, long inbounds pass to six-foot-six sophomore Daquan Joyner, but his desperation three-pointer from near midcourt fell short as the final horn sounded. Following the tournament, Joyner was named MVP after a double-double effort on Wednesday and 22 points in the championship.

In the consolation game, Wayne Country Day benefited from a stout, first period effort and claimed a 61-55 win over a feisty, improved Rosewood (3-5) that lost to the Chargers (9-2) by 41 points earlier this season.

Adam Wright and Spenser Briggs -- both named to the all-tournament team -- paced the Chargers with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Wright and Briggs combined for 20 of the Chargers' 35 points in the first half. Kyle Bunn, also on the all-tournament team, provided 17 points for the Eagles.

"I felt like the game was going to be a whole lot closer than December 17. We jumped out to a fast start, and I think our guys thought it might be another blowout," Wayne Country Day coach Randy Tilley said. "I commend our guys though, they hung in there and closed out the game."

Aycock juniors Santavin Poole and Rob Phillips, also all-tournament performers, led Aycock (6-6) with 23 points each as the Golden Falcons stormed to a 22-point lead with four minutes left in the third period. Quickly, the Cougars began cutting into the Falcon advantage. Two easy hoops by Raheem Loftin at the end of third trimmed the lead to 60-47 before the end of the period.

Goldsboro continued to turn up the intensity in the fourth. A block by Joyner on the defensive end led to a lay-up with 1:30 left -- bringing the Cougars to within one at 73-72. The county rivals traded misses, but eventually the Falcons went back up by three when Michael Gurganus recovered a loose ball and passed from the floor underneath to Bryan Moore near the 15-second mark.

Kornegay got the Cougars within one again, before Sims sealed his team's win at the line.

"They (Aycock) came out and they earned this win. We knew they were going to come out with something to prove after we played them at our place, and we didn't answer the bell," Goldsboro coach Randy Jordan said. "We dug ourselves too deep a whole. I give our kids credit for coming back, but you can't get behind by 22 against a good team on the road.

"We've got two days to get ready for Kinston, and then we go to Southern Wayne. We've got 10 conference games left and you just go back to work and get back to the philosophies we believe in -- pressure defense, unselfish offense and check your egos at the door."

West was quick to praise the efforts of guards Brandon Hobbs and Gurganus, who helped Aycock consistently beat Goldsboro's pressure up the court. The Falcons committed no turnovers in the first half and went on an 18-3 run in the second quarter to take a 41-26 lead at intermission.

"Hobbs was able to run by those guys. We were able to throw-and-go," West said.

Hobbs dished out eight assists on the night, while Phillips added five assists and five rebounds. Poole paced Aycock on the glass with seven rebounds.

After falling behind 21-9 in the first quarter and 35-23 at the half to Wayne Country Day, Rosewood also began chipping away in the third. Bunn contributed eight points in the third as the Eagles trailed just 48-41 at the end of the period.

The Chargers managed just three field goals in the fourth quarter and missed five of their first eight free throws in the final period, but got a handful of key defensive stops down the stretch to put the game away.

Rosewood missed a three-pointer with just under one minute left, but Briggs pulled down the board, got fouled, then made one-of-two to put his team back up by seven in the closing seconds.

Danny Langston paced the Eagles with 14 points, while Kyle Grey and Kyle Bunn added 11 and Antell Richards provided 10.

"It was definitely an improvement from last time we played them. We got down again, but we found a way to claw and scrap our way back," Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell said. "We need 32 minutes. If we do that, I think we will be in pretty good shape. We were a step slow in the first quarter."

Aycock and Goldsboro return to Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference action on Tuesday as the Falcons travel to South Central, while the Cougars host Kinston. Rosewood hosts county rival Spring Creek on Tuesday, while Wayne Country Day travels to Waccamaw Academy on Wednesday.

2004 Falcon Holiday Invitational

(at C.B. Aycock HS)

Consolation

WCDS 21 14 13 13 -- 61

Rosewood 9 14 18 14 -- 55

WAYNE COUNTRY DAY (9-2)

Oscar Ball 2 1 1-2 8, Kevin Logan 0 2 1-2 7, Phillip Weeks 1 1 0-1 5, Jeff Franklin 1 1 0-1 5, Spenser Briggs 5 0 7-9 17, Adam Wright 8 0 3-8 19. TOTALS -- 17 5 12-23 61.

ROSEWOOD (3-5)

Dustin Overman 2 0 0-0 4, Matt Howell 1 0 1-3 3, Kyle Bunn 5 0 1-2 11, Danny Langston 6 0 2-4 14, Antell Richards 5 0 0-0 10, Holt Rains 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Grey 4 0 3-5 11. TOTALS -- 24 0 7-14 61.

Three-point baskets -- Wayne Country Day 5 (Logan 2, Ball, Weeks, Franklin). Turnovers -- Wayne Country Day 11, Rosewood 15. Total fouls -- Wayne Country Day 13, Rosewood 20. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

Championship

Goldsboro 11 15 21 27 -- 74

C.B. Aycock 16 25 19 17 -- 77

GOLDSBORO (9-3)

Tim Kornegay 8 1 5-5 24, Raheem Loftin 6 0 0-0 12, Tavon Waters 1 0 0-0 2, Daquan Joyner 8 2 0-1 22, De'onta Anderson 5 0 2-5 12. TOTALS -- 28 3 7-11 74.

C.B. AYCOCK (6-6)

Michael Gurganus 0 1 0-0 3, Brandon Hobbs 1 0 0-0 2, Rob Phillips 8 2 1-4 23, Montrel Sims 6 0 4-5 16, Bryan Moore 3 0 0-0 6, Chris Foreman 2 0 0-0 4, Santavin Poole 10 0 3-8 23. TOTALS -- 32 3 8-17 77.

Three-point baskets -- Goldsboro 3 (Joyner 2, Kornegay), C.B. Aycock 3 (Phillips 2, Gurganus). Turnovers -- Goldsboro 10, C.B. Aycock 8. Total fouls -- Goldsboro 15, C.B. Aycock 12. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

All-Tournament team

Santavin Poole (C.B. Aycock)

Rob Phillips (C.B. Aycock)

Adam Wright (WCDS)

Spenser Briggs (WCDS)

Kyle Bunn (Rosewood)

MVP - Daquan Joyner (Goldsboro)