Cougar boys get defensive; girls collect first win of season

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on December 22, 2006 2:13 PM

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Goldsboro coach Randy Jordan just shook his head in amazement while staring at the score book from Thursday night's 60-35 non-conference victory against Smithfield-Selma.

Jordan's Cougars had just held the Spartans to four total field goals and 10 points in the second half.

"Defense is what wins," Jordan said. "We said we'd be better defensively today and we were. I'm very, very pleased with our defensive effort."

The defensive performance came just two days following a disappointing 86-76 loss at Rocky Mount. During that contest, the Goldsboro defense was lit up for 54 second-half points.

The loss triggered a wake-up call with the players who made a 180-degree turnaround from Tuesday night.

"We played really good defense," Goldsboro senior Daquan Joyner said. "Coach Jordan kept drilling in our heads to get back on defense and we did that tonight."

Goldsboro's full-court pressure forced Smithfield-Selma into 27 turnovers -- 14 of those coming via steals by the Cougar defense. Tim Kornegay, Burnie Best and Kevonta McDuffie came away with four steals each.

On the other end, however, Goldsboro's offense struggled to find any sort of rhythm all night long.

"Offensively, it was not a work of art, but that's OK -- offense comes and go," Jordan said.

The Cougars seemed ready to break the game open following a 9-0, second-quarter run that pushed the lead to 27-16. Goldsboro, however, missed its next 10 shots and led just 31-25 at halftime.

Goldsboro used its biggest strength in the second half, its size, to find easy baskets and stop settling for outside jump shots.

Joyner scored nine points in a 15-3 run that gave Goldsboro a 46-28 lead.

"When we go down low with Daquan, (Tim) Hobbs, (Tremé) Boone and Kornegay, there are very few teams that can physically match up with us," Jordan said.

On defense, the Cougars continued to attack the ball at both ends of the floor, forcing the Spartans into 10 turnovers during the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was more of the same as Smithfield-Selma struggled to even get up a shot attempt.

A layup by Donte Forsythe gave the Spartans their first points of the quarter with 3:40 to play. Smithfield-Selma would make just one more field goal the rest of the game.

"We hang our hat on defense," Jordan said. "I thought we did a great job defensively this evening."

Joyner led Goldsboro with 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocks. Kornegay and McDuffie both added 10 points for the Cougars, who improved to 9-2.

Derron Potts led Smithfield-Selma (2-11) with eight points.

Goldsboro will next play in the Glaxo-SmithKline Invitational on Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. against Southern Durham at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

"We're really looking forward to it," Jordan said. "It's an exciting time for us."

In the first game of the evening, the Lady Cougars were able to taste victory for the first time this season by knocking off Smithfield-Selma 39-33.

"It feels good to get the win, but we still have a ways to go," Goldsboro coach Brandy Smith said.

Kianna Williams had a strong game for Goldsboro (1-9), scoring 15 points while spending much of the game diving for lose balls.

"Kianna was everywhere tonight," Smith said. "I was glad to see my point guard getting on the floor and getting after it."

Carmille Early also had a good night by doing a little of everything. Early scored eight points, pulled down five rebounds, blocked three shots and came away with two steals for the Cougars.

"Carmille was good inside," Smith said. "She was always getting her hands out in the passing lanes."

Smithfield-Selma (3-10) was led by Danielle Lee's 12 points.

After trailing by one at the end of the first quarter, Goldsboro went on a 13-5 run over the final 5:31 of the second quarter to grab a 20-14 halftime lead.

Points were hard to come by in the third quarter, as Goldsboro tallied just eight, but still managed to hold a 28-22 lead thanks to its stiff man-to-man defense which forced the Spartans into eight turnovers during the quarter.

"Defense was able to create a lot of turnovers for us," said Smith, whose team forced Smithfield-Selma into 21 turnovers. "We weren't getting the transition baskets, but we were at able to at least create the turnovers and keep the ball in our possession."

Williams made sure Goldsboro wouldn't blow a late lead in the fourth by making 5 of 6 shots from the line to clinch the victory.

Moments after the final buzzer sounded, Goldsboro's Victoria Williams sprinted off the court with her arms in the air and leapt into the arms of Millicent Kornegay, igniting the celebration for the Cougars.

"We needed a win, especially going into the Christmas break," Smith said.

Boys Game

Smithfield-Selma 12 13 6 4 -- 35

Goldsboro 18 13 15 14 -- 60

SMITHFIELD-SELMA (2-11)

Derron Potts 4 0 0-2 8, Willie Fowler 2 0 3-4 7, Jamel Pettiway 2 0 0-0 4, Donte Forsythe 2 0 0-0 4, Ashton Dickson 2 0 0-0 4, Jaroka Jones 1 0 2-3 4, Kegan Turner 0 1 0-0 3, Wesley Quinn 0 0 1-2 1, Devonte Woodard 0 0 0-1 0. TOTALS -- 13 1 6-12 35.

GOLDSBORO (9-2)

Daquan Joyner 4 2 2-2 16, Tim Kornegay 2 2 0-0 10, Kevonta McDuffie 4 0 2-2 10, Burnie Best 3 0 0-0 6, Tim Hobbs 3 0 0-0 6, Jameson Wellington 1 1 0-0 5, Tremé Boone 1 0 1-2 3, Eric McLean 1 0 0-0 2, Jamar Branch 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 20 5 5-6 60.

Girls Game

Smithfield-Selma 7 7 8 11 -- 33

Goldsboro 6 14 8 11 -- 39

SMITHFIELD-SELMA (3-10)

Danielle Lee 3 1 3-4 12, Chelsea Vinson 4 0 0-2 8, Alli Parrish 2 0 1-4 5, Ashley Ennis 2 0 0-0 4, Lindsey Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Katie Byrd 0 0 2-2 2, Dorothea Person 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 12 1 6-13 33.

GOLDSBORO (1-9)

Kianna Williams 5 0 5-8 15, Carmille Early 3 0 2-2 8, Danielle Irby 2 1 0-0 7, Tiffany Burden 1 0 2-2 4, Zeara McDuffie 2 0 0-0 4, Johneshia Maye 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 13 1 10-13 39.