E. Wayne, Aycock women advance into ECC semis

Published in Sports on February 16, 2005 1:56 PM

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PIKEVILLE - Two local women's teams will be battling Thursday night at Goldsboro to move into the title round of the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference touranament.

For the third time this season, Eastern Wayne will be attempting to ground coach Gary Hales' high-flying Lady Golden Falcons. Aycock won the previous two encounters. Tip-off will be 6 p.m.

It took "our best game of the year" for sixth-seeded Eastern Wayne to upset third-seeded South Central 50-45.

"We shot the ball well, we set up our offense, and we played very aggressive defense," said coach Brent Holland.

The Lady Warriors took full advantage of the 12-6 cushion they built in the first period. Players whose uniforms ended in the No. 2, Yasmine Washington, Natasha Wiley and Sierra King provided the scoring punch.

South Central would not go away.

Coach Mary Bryan Carlyle's quintet, all underclassmen, came up from Wintersville wrestling with flu-like symptoms. They finally got their legs and started creeping back into contention early in the third quarter.

Eastern Wayne stepped up as a team down the stretch.

"Everyone played their role," said Holland.

Center Kristen Elliott, who had been taking a pounding under the boards all night came to life.

Not only did the senior score four key points, but she also led her team to match the more physical Lady Falcons in rebounding in the final period. Free throws were also a factor. South Central was only 13 for 29, while the Lady Warriors were a respectable 10 for 15.

Wiley was high scorer on the night with 17, followed by Washington with 13, and King with 10.

There will be no need for additional motivation in the C.B. Aycock camp to get ready for Eastern Wayne after their 61-46 win over West Craven.

"We have our ultimate goal and that's winning this tournament," said Hales. "We're going to take things one game at a time.

Aycock also benefited from an outstanding first quarter of play.

After sprinting out to a 15-7 lead by the end of the quarter, they continued their 12-5 run, increasing the margin to 23-10 midway through the second quarter.

West Craven, as did South Central in the first game, started making a run immediately after the half. Paced by Joyce Freeman and Jalessa Jones, the Lady Eagles were down only by four, 35-31, at the three minute mark. Freeman, only a junior, finished with 21 points.

Quaneisha Milner may have applied the backbreaker. Her 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer, gave Aycock a six point cushion, 43-37, going into the final quarter.

The quartet of Milner, Keyata Pettiford, Lela Reid, and Emily Stewart slammed the door on their guests 18-9 over the final eight minutes. Stewart and Reid, along with Erin Medford, also controlled the boards.

"Milner is our floor general," said Hales. "She's worked hard this year and become more consistent."