Rosewood boys rally past Spring Creek

Published in Sports on January 5, 2005 1:56 PM

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The Rosewood Eagles resumed Class 1-A Carolina Conference play last night, sweeping their doubleheader against rival Spring Creek.

The women's game was all Eagles as Rosewood claimed a 56-22 win. The Rosewood men came back to win late in the fourth quarter 60-57.

The men's game was tied 10 times. The Gators' Chris Wright scored as the first quarter ended tying the game at 12, while teammate Josh Bishop canned a 3-point shot as the buzzer rang for intermission for a 27-26 lead. Bishop hit on another of his five 3-pointer on the night to give the Gators a 48-47 advantage going into the final eight minutes.

Spring Creek even extended their lead to 54-49 midway through the fourth quarter before Rosewood bounced back. Danny Langston and Kyle Grey combined for five baskets down the stretch, as the Eagles outscored their guests 11-3.

Langston was high-scorer on the night with 20 points. Grey was a fixture under the boards as Rosewood also won the rebounding wars 34-20.

With Rosewood (4-5,1-2 Carolina) ahead, 60-56, and at the foul line with five seconds left to play and the game seemingly won, suddenly all bets were off.

Dustin Overman was assessed a double technical foul, and Spring Creek (7-4, 2-1) was staring at a potential, five-point play. Wright made only one of the two free throws. On the final play of the game, a Spring Creek 3-point attempt went in, then out of the cylinder.

"Just a great effort," said Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell. "Langston did an excellent job getting ahead on the break. He converted some pinpoint passes."

"Rosewood came to play tonight," said Kilpatrick. "They countered every move we tried to make. They seemed to have an answer for everything. We had a chance at the end and the shot just missed."

A tenacious, pressing defense by Rosewood (5-4, 2-1) kept Spring Creek out of rhythm for the entire girls game. The Gators (1-10, 0-2) had problems getting the ball up court, committing 31 turnovers.

They did not score their first point until 3:15 of the first quarter. Their first basket came at the 1:06 mark. They did not score again until shortly before half-time.

Two sophomores were high scorers on the night. Shanita Monroe had 12. Guard Courtney Hill had eight.

"I'm very happy with the energy our team displayed tonight," said coach Jerry Narron. "We played great defense."

Rosewood entertains Hobbton tonight in a non-conference match-up, while the Gators host South Lenoir on Wednesday.