Speed, athleticism propel South Central past C.B. Aycock

Published in Sports on January 5, 2005 1:55 PM

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WINTERVILLE -- Speed and athleticism have been synonymous with the South Central boys basketball team this season. The Falcons displayed those characteristics Tuesday night, sprinting up and down the hardwood on their way to an 88-72 victory over C.B. Aycock.

The visiting Falcons (6-7, 2-4 Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference) put together a late run in the first half to pull within three points at the break.

But, hopes of a comeback quickly dissipated as South Central's up-tempo style of play keyed a second-half offensive explosion that put South Central up by as many as 24 points.

"We like an up-tempo game," South Central head coach T.J. Long said. "I think layups are the best and easiest way to score and I like to get as many as we can. We look to push it with the players that we have and that seems to be the type of tempo that suits our talent.

"There is a difference between being quick and being in a hurry. I think sometimes we have a tendency to get in a hurry instead of playing quick. There is a fine line between the two but I think we did well with that in the second half."

In the girls game, South Central won a hardfought, 41-34 contest.

The match-up was ugly from the onset with the two squads tallying more turnovers than points in the first quarter. South Central led 5-3 after the first eight minutes before the teams started to heat up. South Central found its stroke from the charity stripe, connecting on 8-of-11 free throws in the second frame to build a 19-13 halftime lead.

Stephony Newkirk paced South Central with 12 points and C.B. Aycock's Quareisha Milner netted a game-high 14.

"We played well in spurts, but we were very flat and could not hit shots," Aycock women's coach Gary Hales said. "We were getting good looks, but couldn't knock them down. That just carried over."

Aycock's women fell to 4-7 overall and 3-3 in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference.

In the boys game, the tandem of Montel Smith and Montarrio Haddock filled up the scoring column for South Central (9-4 overall, 5-1 ECC) as Smith scored 17 of his 30 points in the first half while Haddock tallied 25 of his game-high 33 in the second half and ripped down 11 rebounds.

"(Smith) and (Haddock) are two good ones," Long said. "Their teammates do a lot. Their teammates are unselfish and look to them first."

Smith was unconscious from the perimeter in the early going as two of his six 3-pointers helped South Central build a 14-4 lead to open the game.

Rob Phillips and Montrel Sims scored 14 points each, while Lamada Williams added 13 points off the bench C.B. Aycock and Jonathan Williams tacked on 10 points for South Central.

Aycock's leading scorer Santavin Poole was saddled with foul trouble and finished with only five points.

"They were the most athletically gifted team we have played all year," C.B. Aycock assistant coach Patrick Reynell said. "They (South Central) came back from 15 to beat Goldsboro, so we knew those guys were going to play for 32 minutes. Our kids played hard as they could, but we made one to many mistakes and they hurt us in transtition."

C.B. Aycock will face Eastern Wayne at home on Friday and South Central will battle West Carteret next Tuesday.

By BRANDON HUGHES

Greenville Daily Reflector