Saints pull away late against Hunt

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 25, 2006 2:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- Despite claiming a double-digit victory over Wilson Hunt on Tuesday evening, second-year Southern Wayne boys coach Mike Connelley couldn't understand his team's passive attitude.

The Saints failed to spread the floor and attack the passing lanes against the Warriors' 2-3 zone throughout the 32-minute contest. Instead, Connelley's players attempted ill-advised shots and committed "silly" turnovers that could have proved costly in the end.

But, Southern Wayne survived.

Akeem Royal's offensive putback and Delawn Armwood's two free throws silenced Hunt's final comeback attempt, and paved the way to a 69-58 victory. The Saints, ranked No. 7 in the NCpreps. com Class 3-A poll, rose to 15-2 and 4-1 against Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference opposition.

Hunt exited 6-11 overall with a 2-3 ECC worksheet.

Passive play victimized the Southern Wayne girls. The Warriors (7-10, 3-2 ECC) held the Saints without a field goal for 6-plus minutes in the opening quarter en route to a 68-37 win. Playoff contenders one week ago, the Saints (6-8) endured their second straight defeat in conference play.

Connelley unhooked the video camera from its tripod, quickly scanned the scorebook and combed back his gray-tinged hair.

He hardly felt like celebrating.

"We have high standards and we want to play better, but I think we've been in a little slump here," said Connelley. "I thought, by far, it was not a very good game for us. But, we we did what we needed to do.

"It's nice when you can be disappointed and still win by 11."

The Warriors controlled the first 14 minutes of the contest and kept the Saints off the boards -- offensively and defensively. Hunt led 26-21 before two turnovers sparked a late Southern Wayne run.

Akeem Royal, who led all scorers with 31 points, knocked down two 3-pointers. Delawn Armwood and Antonio Davis each added a basket as the Saints closed the half with a 13-1 run.

"I thought we ran fast, but we didn't play aggressive," said Connelley. "I thought we were where we were supposed to be (defensively), but not anticipating plays until the end (of the half).

"I thought we finished the half well and the third quarter was workmanlike."

Royal and Armwood drained back-to-back 3-pointers off Austin Hood assists for a 49-40 advantage in the third. Davis' offensive putback and Armwood's two free throws gave the Saints their biggest lead -- 56-44 -- midway through the fourth quarter.

Hunt capitalized on a couple of Saints miscues and put together a 12-5 run. Lavell Shipman's backdoor layup pulled the Warriors within 62-58 with 1:09 left in regulation.

"We did some silly things against pressure and that's stuff we work on all the time," said Connelley. "I thought 'if we lose, this will be my lesson why we don't do those things.' Then, Akeem gets that big offensive rebound and scores.

"Lord have mercy, what a great play."

Royal rebounded a missed free throw by Hood and scored. Armwood added two more free throws after getting fouled on an offensive rebound.

Armwood finished with 16 points, including a 9 of 13 effort at the free throw line. Davis added 10 for the Saints, who shot 19 of 35 at the charity stripe compared to 5 of 10 for the Warriors.

Shipman paced Hunt with 15 points.

"I've been lucky and have experience with things like this," said Connelley. "You get a good team that's on a nice roll, and you get complacent. So you play (complacent).

"We're not playing as well as we have played, but I think it's a natural thing that teams go through. We'll get back on track."

The Warrior girls used a 19-0 run to seize control of their game.

Krystal Smith connected on a pair of 3-pointers off Chelsea Atkinson's assists during the spurt. Atkinson benefited from Smith's open-court assists and converted several uncontested layups against the Saints, who struggled in transition defense.

"It was a difference between playing their brand of ball and my brand of ball, and I let them play theirs," said Combs. "You saw the outcome. We didn't get back on defense, didn't execute on offense, didn't rebound, didn't box out, didn't make good passes ...

"We just didn't play."

Atkinson emerged the game's top scorer with 23 points, while Smith provided 16.

Shakoria Clark and Ebony Darden each had 10 points for the Saints.

Boys game

Wilson Hunt 17 10 13 18 -- 58

Southern Wayne 12 22 15 20 -- 69

WILSON HUNT (6-11, 2-3)

Marcus Sauls 1 1 0-0 5, Jamil Creech 0 0 0-0 0, Bobby White 4 0 0-0 8, Jamel Joyner 0 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Lavell Shipman 7 0 1-2 15, Anthony Lewis 6 0 1-2 13, Kason Cheeks 4 0 1-2 9, Devrine Barnes 2 0 1-2 5, Quentin Stackhouse 1 0 1-2 3. TOTALS -- 25 1 5-10 58.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (15-2, 4-1)

Derek Garris 0 0 1-2 1, Anthony Council 0 0 1-2 1, Antonio Davis 5 0 0-1 10, Akeem Royal 5 5 6-9 31, Delawn Armwood 2 1 9-13 16, Ashton Langston 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Bellamy 0 2 0-0 6, Austin Hood 0 0 4-6 4, Jaffari Ward 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 12 8 19-35 69.

3-point goals -- Hunt 1 (Sauls), So. Wayne 8 (Royal 5, Bellamy 2, Armwood). Turnovers -- Hunt 23, So. Wayne 16. Total fouls -- Hunt 21, So. Wayne 10. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

Girls game

Wilson Hunt 19 16 21 12 -- 68

Southern Wayne 6 10 6 15 -- 37

WILSON HUNT (7-10, 3-2)

Ashley Lucas 1 0 0-0 2, Heather Gavin 1 0 -0 2, Shanique Jefferson 0 0 0-0 0, Jessica McNair 2 0 00 4, Chelsea Atkinson 8 1 4-5 23, Krystal Smith 5 2 0-2 16, Kiara Jones 2 0 0-0 4, Amanda Grady 1 0 0-0 2, Crystal Artis 4 0 0-0 8, Brandi Williams 1 0 0-2 2, Spencer Winburne 2 0 1-2 5. TOTALS -- 27 3 5-11 68.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (6-8, 2-3)

Kierra Ingram 5 0 0-1 10, Shakoria Clark 2 0 0-0 4, Zekia Jones 2 0 -0 4, Ebony Darden 5 0 0-2 10, Cassandra Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Lynn Grantham 0 0 2-2 2, Lynnesha Leonard 1 0 5-10 7. TOTALS -- 15 0 7-15 37.

3-point goals -- Hunt 3 (Smith 2, Atkinson). Turnovers -- Hunt 24, So. Wayne 24. Total fouls -- Hunt 16, So. Wayne 10. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.