Aycock sweeps W. Craven

By Neil Fuller
Published in Sports on January 30, 2005 2:02 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- For at least one night, Charles B. Aycock junior forward Santavin Poole knew how it felt to be Christian Laettner.

Poole hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 0.9 seconds remaining -- much like Laettner did to lift Duke over Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight -- giving the Golden Falcons a dramatic 67-66 win over West Craven on Friday night.

The triumph keeps C.B. Aycock's slim playoff hopes alive in the rigid Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference.

"It was a storybook ending to a pretty ugly basketball game," Golden Falcons coach David West. "At least it showed my kids that no matter how bad things look, good things happen when you keep plugging away. Thank goodness something good finally happened for these kids."

West Craven's Michael Wright missed two free throws with 1.5 seconds left -- leaving the door open for C.B. Aycock (9-11 overall, 5-7 ECC). Following a timeout, Rob Phillips's Hail Mary inbound pass found Poole, who found nothing but net with the game's final shot.

Poole led the Golden Falcons with 27 points.

"After telling them everything not to do (during the final timeout), my kids went out and did everything right," West said. "It was perfect. Rob delivered a perfect pass, and Santavin was smart enough not to put the ball on the floor. Had he taken one dribble, the shot would've been no-good."

Montrel Sims was 5-of-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and finished with 25 points for C.B. Aycock. Phillips scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter -- before delivering the pivotal assist.

Poole had 11 second-quarter points as the Golden Falcons carried a 31-28 lead into halftime.

Senior guard Anthony Cuthberson had a game-high 30 points for West Craven (3-17, 2-11).

In the women's game, junior guard Quaneisha Milner scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half as C.B. Aycock fended off an upset-minded group of Lady Eagles, 56-50.

Milner, who added five assists, four rebounds and four steals, was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Falcons (10-8, 8-4) led 38-37 entering the final period. The game was tied at 28 at halftime.

"West Craven really came in and did a nice job tonight," C.B. Aycock coach Gary Hales said. "I was really disappointed with our lack of effort. West Craven played hard, and we weren't ready."

Erin Medford scored 11 points, and Lela Reid added 10 for the Lady Falcons, who shot 40 percent (18 of 45) from the field.

Keisha Hardy scored a game-high 16 points for West Craven (4-13, 3-10).

Both C.B. Aycock teams visit West Carteret in ECC play next Tuesday.