Mission accomplished: Goldsboro boys go 6-0 vs. county foes

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 17, 2006 2:01 AM

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DUDLEY -- An elephant never forgets.

Troubled by three losses against county opposition last season, the Goldsboro High men's basketball team has spent the non-conference portion its 2006-2007 campaign exacting revenge.

Consider the mission complete.

The Cougars converted a season-high 37 field goals and drilled Southern Wayne 90-65 before a packed house Friday evening. Goldsboro (8-1) collected its eighth consecutive victory and fashioned a sparkling 6-0 worksheet against its Wayne County foes.

"That's an accomplishment because you can throw the records away in the county," said Goldsboro coach Randy Jordan. "Those (games) are brutal every time and I'm real proud of the kids."

Southern Wayne's girls also earned a regular-season sweep. Shakoria Clark sizzled the nets for a game-high 28 points and Lynneshia Leonard provided 15 in a 72-64 triumph over the winless Cougars. Goldsboro exited 0-8 overall and finished 0-6 against county teams.

"We're playing together as a unit and the coaches are coming together as a unit," said Saints coach Chuck Crumpler. "The last couple of weeks we've been going through a lot and we've started playing together the past two games."

The Saints (4-4) claimed their second straight win.

A standing-room-only crowd anticipated an up-and-down the court affair in the boy's game. Only the Cougars managed to execute their transition offense, while the Saints struggled to find a consistent rhythm in their halfcourt set.

Goldsboro mixed up its defenses to dictate the tempo and force Southern Wayne out of its offensive scheme. When the Saints attacked the basket, they altered their shots due to the 6-foot-7 presence of Daquan Joyner and his frontline mates -- Tim Hobbs and Antonio Green. The trio combined for 12 blocked shots.

Southern Wayne (4-3) misfired on its first seven shots from the floor and failed to convert 14 consecutive possessions during a seven-minute stretch. Anthony Vick tallied the Saints' first bucket, a 3-pointer, off Paris Armwood's assist with 1:19 left in the opening quarter.

"Daquan can change anybody's game," said Saints coach Russell Royal. "We were getting to the basket, penetrating for the pull-up shots, but his (long) arms can make our best scorers alter their shots.

"It got intimidating and got us out of our element. That (early) drought is hard to rebound from."

Southern Wayne pulled within 15-8 on Vick's three, but could get no closer the remainder of the game. Goldsboro continued to flourish in its transition offense and point guard Eric McLean dished out six of his game-high nine assists in the second quarter.

The Cougars led 41-22 at intermission.

"Eric played very well and is coming into his own," said Jordan.

Tim Kornegay blitzed the Saint defense for a game-high 28 points, while Joyner nearly posted a triple-double -- 17 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots. McLean added eight points.

Orlando Davis emerged Southern Wayne's lone bright spot with 21 points, including an 11 of 15 performance at the free throw line. Overall, the Saints connected of 25 free throws to go along with 17 field goals.

Goldsboro picked up its fifth road victory of the season.

"The kids came in (tonight) with a purpose," said Jordan. "We talk a lot about being elephants and elephants have long memories. We were 3-3 last year in the county and let two of them slip away.

"We've got eight seniors who have matured and know what's expected of them. They understand this is a marathon and not a sprint."

Southern Wayne's girls preferred a sprinter's pace and it wore down a short-handed Goldsboro squad. The Cougars played without guard Kiana Williams and forward Bianca Thompson (knee). The absences left just two substitutes on the bench.

Goldsboro struggled on transition defense and it took its toll late in the second quarter. Clinging to a four-point lead, the Cougars watched that advantage evaporate on four consecutive Saints possessions.

Leonard knocked down four shots, including three three-pointers, all off Clark assists.

"We started getting beat in transition and playing seven men, I guess we kind of got tired with our legs, but that's no excuse," said Goldsboro coach Brandy Smith. "We let one player come out and score three times because of not matching up."

Crumpler substituted liberally throughout the game and it paid dividends in the third quarter. The Saints erupted for 28 points, including 13 from Clark and seven from Kayla Powell.

Southern Wayne led 63-48 heading into the final period.

"They're finding the open hole to get to and playing a good brand of freestyle basketball right now," said Crumpler. "I'm proud of them for that. We're taking shots that are beginning to fall for us now."

Zeara McDuffie led three Cougars in double figures with 19 points. Camille Early added 16, including a 6 for 6 showing at the free throw line. Danielle Irby chipped in 12.

McDuffie and Irby combined for eight assists and eight steals.

Boys game

Goldsboro 15 25 26 24 -- 90

Southern Wayne 8 14 19 24 -- 65

GOLDSBORO (8-1)

Tim Kornegay 12 1 3-5 28, Burnie Best 2 0 0-0 4, Eric McLean 1 2 0-0 8, Jameson Wellington 2 0 0-0 4, Tim Hobbs 2 0 2-6 8, Treme Boone 2 0 2-4 6, Brandon Sampson 2 0 2-4 6, Aric Sinclair 0 0 2-2 2, Daquan Joyner 7 1 0-0 17, Antonio Green 3 0 1-2 7. TOTALS -- 33 4 12-23 90.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (4-3)

Paris Armwood 0 0 0-0 0, Anthony Vick 0 2 0-0 6, Silonte Thompson 0 0 2-2 2, Jon Hart 1 3 4-4 15, Eric Wooten 0 0 1-2 1, Dwight Smith 0 1 2-2 5, Adam Harrell 0 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Thompson 4 0 3-4 11, Orlando Davis 5 0 11-15 21, Josh Darden 1 0 1-2 3, Dequan Cozart 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 11 6 25-33 65.

Girls game

Goldsboro 13 18 17 16 -- 64

Southern Wayne 16 19 28 9 -- 72

GOLDSBORO (0-8)

Camille Early 5 0 6-6 16, Zeara McDuffie 6 0 7-11 19, Tiffany Burden 0 0 0-0 0, Danielle Irby 5 0 2-2 12, Johneshia Maye 3 0 2-6 8, Millicent Kornegay 0 0 0-0 0, Victoria Williams 4 0 1-1 9. TOTALS -- 23 0 18-26 64.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (4-4)

Kiera Ingram 1 0 1-3 3, Shakoria Clark 10 2 2-4 28, Brianna Lofton 0 1 5-6 8, Carlotta Hagans 0 0 0-0 0, Lynneshia 3 3 0-4 15, Kayla Powell 3 0 1-1 7, Clarice Sherard 2 0 1-3 5, Alyssa Bradshaw 0 0 1-2 1, Jameka Allen 2 0 1-1 5. TOTALS -- 21 6 12-24 72.