Eagles slow Yutzy, but Dawgs still prevail

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on January 19, 2005 1:57 PM

• Print
• Email

PRINCETON - Rosewood men's basketball coach Daniel Mitchell outlined a defensive game plan for his team before their matchup at archrival Princeton.

"We know he's (Karter Yutzy) a good scorer and a great basketball player. We wanted to make the other players beat us, and they did," Mitchell said. "Danny (Langston) did a great job on Karter. I give a lot of credit to the other guys at Princeton.

"They knocked down the open shot consistently."

While Langston did a solid job of slowing down Yutzy from the floor, the senior standout's teammates stepped up in a big way in a 66-53 win over Rosewood (6-9, 2-4) in Class 1-A Carolina Conference action.

Princeton's Deandre Dublin poured in a career-high 17 points, including 13 of his team's 28 in the first half. Meanwhile, Brandon Pate contributed 14 with three, 3-pointers and Josh Thompson added ten, making two from behind the arc.

Bringing the team total to nine threes, Bren Hall added one from long range and logged a lot of consistent minutes at the point as the Bulldogs (11-5, 3-3) finished with only four turnovers.

"We are not going to blow people out. We've got to be efficient," Princeton coach Jeff Davis said. "The turnover margin was great. That's what we've got to do. We've done a lot better job of that the last few games. We've got to get a good shot every time down the court."

Yutzy didn't score in the first half, but eventually tallied a team-best 20 points -- nailing 13-of-14 from the free throw line down the stretch to help his team pull away. He also did strong work underneath with 13 rebounds.

Rosewood's Kyle Bunn posted 12 of his career-best, 24 points in the fourth period as he was the only Eagle to reach double figures.

The girls game saw a scrappy Princeton team consistently stay within ten points of Rosewood, which played most of the game with all-around catalyst Jessica Hill in foul trouble. Still, Hill finished with 10 points and capped an 8-0 run to start the second period as the Eagles claimed a 55-39 victory over the Bulldogs (5-11, 2-4).

"It's difficult to play without her on the floor. We had a lot of girls to pick up the slack and I thought we played good defensively," Rosewood coach Clare Narron said. "We needed a game that was a tough game, not a blowout and not a loss."

Clare Narron's 13-point effort paced the Eagles (10-5, 4-2), who had five players with seven or more points. Stephanie Daughtry, Tiesha Williams and C.C. Sanders posted eight points each for Princeton.

A fluid, third-period run proved crucial for the Bulldog men. Yutzy came out with a 3-point play, before a jumper from behind the arc pushed his team out to a 34-26 edge at the 6:40 mark. Pate followed with a three, one minute later to cap a 9-2 Bulldog run to start the half.

In a game where neither team created easy baskets with their defense, Princeton's 41-34 lead after three periods proved too much for their rivals to overcome on Tuesday. Bunn had an early three in the fourth that pulled his team to within five and a driving score that made it 49-43 with 3:40 left. That was as close as the Eagles would get.

In the final three minutes, Yutzy went on a scoring spree from the stripe. After missing his first shot at the line, Yutzy made 13 straight to help his team create distance from Rosewood.

"We wanted to get it down to two minutes and make it a free-throw shooting contest," Davis said. "We feel like if we can do that, we've got a pretty good chance."

After leading 10-9 after one period, the Eagles managed just one field goal in five minutes of action in the second and fell behind 20-14. Bunn answered with a three-point play the hard way, while Kyle Grey followed with a basket down low to pull Rosewood to within one at 20-19.

The rest of the half saw Princeton make two more threes, wedged between another Eagle three-point play. The Bulldogs took a slim, 28-24 edge into a controlled first half as neither team committed a turnover in the second period.

With a 26-18 lead at halftime, Rosewood's women did over half of their scoring in the second half from the free-throw line as 15 of its 29 points came from the stripe. Courtney Hill connected on five-of-six in the third period as the Eagles maintained a 10-point margin after three.

Jessica Hill entered back into the game for the Eagles after sitting out most of the third and added four-of-four from the line. Princeton's Brittany Rose knocked down a jumper early in the fourth to pull her team to within eight at 38-30, but Rosewood never allowed the Bulldogs any closer the rest of the way.

Princeton pulled within two late in the first period on a long jumper from Stephanie Daughtry -- capping an 8-0 run near the end of the first. Two Princeton turnovers helped Rosewood counter with an 8-0 push to open the second and take a 22-10 advantage.

The Bulldogs committed 23 turnovers on the game.

"I thought we hustled. We did some good things in the first half," Princeton coach Ricky Boyette said. "We hit a few shots and kept it close. We had a string of abbot four or five turnovers in a row and they pulled it back out to 10 points. I wasn't dissatisfied though."

With the first half of the Carolina conference schedule complete, both teams return home in league action on Friday. The Eagles host Farmville Central, while the Bulldogs entertain Ayden-Grifton.