Golden Falcon girls complete sweep, tie for second in ECC

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on February 10, 2006 2:27 PM

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DUDLEY -- Charles B. Aycock's Quaneisha Milner pumped in a game-best 21 points, while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out six assists, as the Golden Falcons completed a regular-season sweep over Southern Wayne with a 65-48 win in the Saints' gymnasium on Thursday.

In coach Luke Vail's return to the Aycock bench, the Lady Falcons finished the regular season at 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference -- good for a second-place tie with Wilson Hunt. Aycock and Hunt split two games in the regular season and will draw for the conference's second spot in the conference tournament.

"To finish tied for second and to clinch a playoff berth says a lot about this team this year," Vail said. "I really didn't know much about the personnel we had coming in, so I've had to plan as the games go along."

The No. 2 seed receives a first-round bye and begins tournament play on Wednesday, while the No. 3 seed takes on the No. 6 seed in the first round. Pairings for the tournament will appear in Sunday's edition.

Southern Wayne (6-13 overall) slipped to 2-8 in league play and finished tied for fourth with Eastern Wayne and Kinston.

The three schools will also likely draw for their seeding.

The Saints led 20-18 after the first quarter and looked poised for an upset attempt in the early going as Ebony Darden, who had a team-high 19 points, had seven points in the first. In the second, the Falcons bounced back with improved play and outscored the Saints 10-3 in the first five minutes. Still, despite making just one field goal in the second, Southern Wayne trailed just 33-27 at the break.

Aycock, who went 7-0 against Wayne County teams in the regular season, never went on a huge run in the second half, and the Saints never went away.

A basket by Milner pushed the Falcons up 43-33 late in the third, before Southern Wayne countered in the late stages of the third and early fourth quarters to trail just 47-43 after two-of-two at the line by Shakoria Clark.

But, an untimely offensive lull by Southern Wayne and some tough baskets underneath by Aycock's Emily Stewart, eventually proved too much for the Saints to overcome. Stewart added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Falcons, while Erin Medford (15 rebounds) and Jasmine Dobbin (10 rebounds) reached double figures on the boards.

"It's good to be tested at this point of the season, and Southern Wayne did that," Vail said. "They (Southern Wayne) shot well in the early going, and it forced us to work harder. We didn't ice the game until late."

Clark added 13 points for the Saints, while teammate Christy Dixon, Southern Wayne's lone senior, had five points.

C.B. Aycock 18 15 14 18 -- 65

Southern Wayne 20 7 12 9 -- 48

C.B. AYCOCK (15-8, 7-3)

Quaneisha Milner 5 1 8-11 21, Emily Stewart 7 0 1-2 15, Jasmine Dobbin 3 1 1-2 10, Jazzmine Lee 2 1 1-2 8, Erin Medford 1 1 0-4 5, Chantel Gaines 2 0 0-0 4, Lauren Pratt 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 21 4 11-19 65.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (6-13, 2-8)

Ebony Darden 9 0 1-3 19, Shakoria Clark 2 1 6-6 13, Lynnesha Leonard 3 0 2-2 6, Christy Dixon 1 1 0-0 5, Cassandra Jones 0 0 2-4 2, Zekia Jones 0 0 1-2 1, Kiera Ingram 0 0 0-1 0. TOTALS -- 15 2 12-18 48.

3-point goals -- CBA 4 (Milner, Dobbin, Lee, Medford), SW 2 (Clark, Dixon). Turnovers -- CBA 17, SW 17. Total fouls -- CBA 14, SW 16. Fouled out -- Clark (SW). Technical fouls -- none.