Saints sweep Warriors in ECC 3-A opener

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on January 8, 2006 2:18 AM

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DUDLEY -- Eastern Wayne coach Marvin Bowman knew the only way his team would be able to come out of Southern Wayne's gym with a win would be to match the one-loss Saints' intensity.

For one period, the Warriors did just that -- keeping Southern Wayne within their sites in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

The second period proved to be a much different story.

With play typical of their first 11 games, the Saints outscored their county rivals 30-4 in the first six minutes of the second quarter, led by the scoring and rebounding of seniors Delawn Armwood and Akeem Royal, which proved to be the key run in a 92-63 win in front of a full house in their home game.

"We want it right now. We don't take practice light, and we try to keep everybody encouraged," Armwood said. "Whatever somebody is good at, we try to keep them going."

Outscoring its opponents by over 20 points this year, Southern Wayne (1-0 ECC) improved to 11-1 overall and has won eight straight. The Warriors (0-1 ECC) slipped to 6-7.

In the girls game, Southern Wayne's Shakoria Clark scored six unanswered points in the fourth quarter -- leading a 10-0 run by the Saints, who claimed a 46-41 victory over the Warriors.

After a sluggish first quarter by both teams, Eastern Wayne's girls led the majority of the second and third quarters with balanced scoring and gritty defense. The Lady Warriors (1-12, 0-1 ECC) took their biggest lead at 29-22 midway through the third on a 3-pointer by Dionne Smith.

Southern Wayne (4-5, 1-0 ECC) turned up its defensive pressure to start the fourth as a steal-and-score by Clark, followed by a basket off a turnover by Lynnesha Leonard gave the Saints a 33-32 advantage early in the final period.

Eastern Wayne, which finished with 30 turnovers on the game, had six miscues in the first two minutes of the fourth period. Near the six-minute mark, a Lady Warrior was whistled for her fifth foul, then was hit with a technical foul -- giving Clark four chances at the line.

Clark, who finished with 16 points, made three-of-four and followed on the ensuing possession with a 3-pointer from the left wing to push the Saints' lead to 39-32 with five minutes left.

"We had to do something different in the fourth quarter to turn the tide. We didn't have passion tonight, and the only way I know to get passion is to play some full-court man defense," Southern Wayne girls coach Sally Combs said. "I thought we played much better the other night against Wallace-Rose Hill."

Still, Eastern Wayne never went away as Yasmine Washington, who had a game-high 17 points, posted an old-fashioned three-point play, then added a steal-and-score to make it 39-37 at the two-minute mark. The Warriors had chances to force a tie late in the game, but couldn't cash in as Leonard and teammate Lynn Grantham helped put the game away for the Saints with clutch baskets.

"I'm still happy with the girls. We've played some tough teams this year, so we're prepared for the conference," Eastern Wayne girls coach Brent Holland said.

Royal finished with 17 of his 25 points in the second period, making five of his seven 3-pointers during the spurt. Armwood added nine points in the second, then posted 15 more in the third period on his way to a game-high 30 points.

"That second quarter, man, we really got after it. They (Royal and Armwood) are really talented players and they really playing hard," Southern Wayne boys coach Mike Connelley said. "They are practicing hard and working on their game. They want to be great, great players."

Meanwhile, senior guards Derek Garris (five assists, three steals) and Austin Hood (six assists, four steals) keyed the pressure defense in the backcourt and consistently found Royal and Armwood for open looks. Antonio Davis paced Southern Wayne on the boards with nine rebounds as Eastern Wayne rarely got a second look at the basket.

"Our guys are all playing their roles," Connelley said.

Freshman Reco McCarter and reserve Orlando Midgette led the Warriors with 12 points each.

"I've got to give them (Southern Wayne) a lot of credit. They do everything well," Eastern Wayne coach Marvin Bowman said. "We had to match their intensity, and we started out doing that, but in the second quarter we just didn't have it.

"When they hit shots like that, it doesn't give you a chance to get rebounds and start your break."

Desperately needing a big run to start the second half, Eastern Wayne never found its offensive rhythm as Armwood picked up in the third period where Royal left off in the second. Southern Wayne eventually outscored the Warriors by eight in the third and led 73-38 heading into the fourth period.

Both teams got a lot of minutes out of their reserves in the final period. Midgette led Eastern Wayne's bench with six points in the fourth, while Jaffari Ward gave the Saints a spark, also scoring six points.

Both teams return to ECC action on Monday as the Saints host Wilson Beddingfield and the Warriors entertain Wilson Hunt.

Girls

E. Wayne 8 16 8 8 -- 41

S. Wayne 9 13 7 17 -- 46

EASTERN WAYNE (1-12, 0-1)

Yasmine Washington 7 0 3-5 17, Noelle Kelly 2 0 0-0 4, Dionne Smith 2 1 0-0 7, Laverne Jones 0 0 3-4 3, Sherelle Burt 3 0 1-2 7, Jasmine McLamb 0 0 1-2 1, LaNiece Sims 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 14 1 10-15 41.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (4-5, 1-0)

Shakoria Clark 3 1 7-11 16, Ebony Darden 5 0 4-9 14, Christy Dixon 1 0 0-0 2, Lynn Grantham 1 0 2-2 4, Lynnesha Leonard 5 0 0-1 10. TOTALS -- 15 1 13-21 46.

3-point goals -- Eastern Wayne 1 (Smith), Southern Wayne 1 (Clark). Turnovers -- Eastern Wayne 30, Southern Wayne 20. Total fouls -- Eastern Wayne 14, Southern Wayne 16. Fouled out -- Sims (EW), Dixon (SW). Technical fouls -- Sims (EW).

Boys

E. Wayne 12 10 16 25 -- 63

S. Wayne 15 34 24 19 -- 92

EASTERN WAYNE (6-7, 0-1)

Reco McCarter 6 0 0-0 12, Orlando Midgette 6 0 0-1 12, Floronta Wynn 3 0 2-2 8, Darryl Cowan 1 2 1-2 9, Landon Downes 2 0 0-0 4, D'Adrian Worrell 2 0 0-2 4, Lamar Davis 2 0 2-3 6, Myles Pena 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 24 2 9-14 63.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (11-1, 1-0)

Delawn Armwood 7 4 4-8 30, Akeem Royal 2 7 0-0 25, Austin Hood 2 0 1-4 5, Antonio Davis 3 0 0-0 6, Derek Garris 1 0 0-0 2, Ashton Langston 1 0 2-3 4, Jaffari Ward 3 0 0-0 6, Andre Langston 1 0 0-0 2, Justin Bellamy 2 0 2-2 6, Kendrick Thompson 2 0 0-0 4, Jon Hart 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 25 11 9-17 92.

3-point goals -- Eastern Wayne 2 (Cowan 2), Southern Wayne 11 (Royal 7, Armwood 4). Turnovers -- Eastern Wayne 17, Southern Wayne 15. Total fouls -- Eastern Wayne 14, Southern Wayne 13. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- McCarter (EW).