Goldsboro News-Argus | Sports: Eastern Wayne sweeps Spring Creek

Local Sports > Archive > January 2006 > 1
<< "Saints win Home Team Athletics Holiday Classic championship" - "Trojans face two tough tests" >>

Eastern Wayne sweeps Spring Creek

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 1, 2006 2:13 AM

LaGRANGE -- Oh, sweet victory!

Mired in a 12-game losing streak since February of last season, the Eastern Wayne women's basketball team finally experienced a win Friday afternoon. All-tournament selection LaNiece Sims tallied nine points in the final quarter to help the Warriors turn back Spring Creek 46-34 in the third-place game of the 2005 Kinston Free Press Invitational.

Darryl Cowan led four Eastern Wayne players in double figures with 20 points and earned all-tournament honors in a 77-71 conquest of county rival Spring Creek. It was a rematch of last year's third-place game, also won by the Warriors.

"We've played some tough competition this year, but the girls don't know what it's like to win," said third-year Eastern Wayne coach Brent Holland, who collected his 21st career win. "I knew it was going to be tooth and nail. We're extremely happy to get a win."

Brittani Billups' offensive putback tied the game at 17-17 late in the first half. Dionne Smith buried a 3-pointer as the second quarter expired, and that started a key run for the Warriors.

Eastern Wayne (1-10) extended its advantage to eight points in the third period. The Gators (1-12) pulled within 28-23, but could get no closer in their first-ever meeting against the Warriors.

Sims got untracked in the fourth quarter and Yasmine Washington added eight of her game-high 16 points during that stretch.

"A good fourth quarter," said a grinning Holland. "We executed our delay game, got a couple of backdoors and the girls finished. LaNiece played well and made her free throws when it counted."

Sims scored 12 points.

Billups, an all-tournament pick, registered a double-double -- 19 points, 16 rebounds -- for the Gators.

The sophomore forward also blocked six shots and picked the Warriors for six steals. Tomeka Pride and Shaquita Brooks each contributed four points.

Unlike Thursday's late-game collapse against West Craven, the Warrior boys held their poise when Spring Creek whittled a 10-point deficit to 45-44 in the third quarter.

Eastern Wayne (6-5) answered with a 12-0 run and kept the Gators winless (0-4) in two Invitational appearances.

"Sometimes, the best lessons these young guys learn is when they experience (losing a lead)," said Warriors coach Marvin Bowman, whose team is the guest of North Lenoir next Tuesday. "Tonight we rectified that. We were smarter down the stretch, took care of the ball and kept their poise.

"We maintained the tempo of the game."

Lamar Davis complemented Cowan's effort with 13 points. Reco McCarter added 11 and Monty Best chipped in 10.

Senior guard Cliff Wilson tallied a game-high 23 points, including 18 from behind the 3-point arc. Dalreese Bell, who grabbed a spot on the all-tournament team, contributed 16 points. Daniel Chewning provided 15 points, including 10 in the third quarter.

"Tonight, we went out to have fun and play our style of basketball," said Gators coach Sonny Kilpatrick. "We ran some with them, but didn't run a lot because we can't do that against the big boys. We tried to pick them up early on defense and it worked better for us.

"We couldn't stop them completely and that's not going to happen because he's got good athletes."

Spring Creek (4-9) will attempt to snap its eight-game losing streak at home Tuesday against Ayden-Grifton. It's the Class 1-A Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

Omar Jones provided a tournament-record 32 points as North Lenoir successfully claimed its third consecutive Kinston Free Press Invitational crown with an 87-66 rout of West Craven. Jones collected Most Valuable Player honors for the Hawks, who beat the Eagles for the third time this season.

Katie Maloney delivered a double-double -- 16 points, 11 rebounds -- to pace North Lenoir to a 50-43 win over West Craven in the women's final. Maloney received MVP accolades after averaging a double-double during the two-day event.

2005 Kinston Free Press

Invitational

(at N. Lenoir HS, LaGrange)

3rd place -- Girls

Eastern Wayne 11 9 8 18 -- 46

Spring Creek 7 10 6 11 -- 34

EASTERN WAYNE (1-10)

Lindsey Frederick 0 0 0-2 0, Noelle Kelly 2 0 1-4 5, Jasmine Middleton 1 0 0-0 2, Alysa Artis 0 0 0-2 0, Dionne Smith 0 2 2-2 8, Yasmine Washington 6 0 4-4 16, LaVerne Jones 0 0 3-8 3, LaNiece Sims 4 0 4-9 12. TOTALS -- 13 2 14-31 46.

SPRING CREEK (1-12)

Sarah Parks 0 0 0-0 0, Anna Potter 0 0 0-0 0, Janet Potter 0 1 0-0 3, Tomeka Pride 2 0 0-0 4, Margo Sauter 0 0 0-0 0, Vanity Brooks 1 0 1-2 3, Brittani Billups 6 0 7-13 19, Shaquita Brooks 2 0 0-0 4, Tasha Whitfield 0 0 1-2 1, Maura Phipps 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 11 1 9-17 34.

3rd place -- Boys

Eastern Wayne 17 16 21 23 -- 77

Spring Creek 7 16 21 27 -- 71

EASTERN WAYNE (6-5)

Lamar Davis 4 1 2-2 13, Darryl Cowan 5 2 4-4 20, Monty Best 2 0 6-6 10, Reco McCarter 4 0 3-6 11, Landon Downes 2 1 2-5 9, Allen Austin 1 0 0-0 2, Floronta Wynn 1 0 0-0 2, Orlando Midgette 0 0 0-0 0, Myles Pena 3 0 0-0 6, D'Adrian Worrell 1 0 2-4 4. TOTALS -- 23 4 19-27 77.

SPRING CREEK (4-9)

Cliff Wilson 2 6 1-6 23, Dalreese Bell 2 3 3-5 16, Josh Wright 1 0 5-5 7, Desmund Raeford 1 0 2-4 4, Daniel Chewning 7 0 1-1 15, David Harris 1 0 0-0 2, Carsheme Ruffin 2 0 0-0 4. TOTALS -- 16 9 12-22 71.

Girls championship