Rebel uprising: North Duplin boys end 10-game skid

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 24, 2007 2:08 PM

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Mired in a 10-game slump and haunted by single-digit losses during the last month, North Duplin's boys finally erased that nagging goose egg in the win column Tuesday evening.

Put a "1" there now.

The Rebels fashioned a game-ending 6-0 run and turned back Rosewood 44-39 on the Class 1-A Carolina Conference scene. North Duplin departed 1-10 overall and 1-4 in league play, while the Eagles (3-13 overall) exited with a 1-4 conference worksheet.

"It's good to get a win," said North Duplin coach Ricky Edwards.

North Duplin claimed just its second conference victory in its last 13 meetings against Carolina opposition, and snapped a long losing streak on the road.

"You've got to give North Duplin a lot of credit," said Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell. "They came in, scrapped and played hard, and hit shots when they needed to."

Shots constantly clanged off the rim in the opening half as neither team could find any offensive rhythm. The Eagles endured a nine-minute scoring drought from the field, while the Rebels converted 6 of 16 field goals.

Holt Rains provided Rosewood's offense -- two free throws -- in the second period. North Duplin led 20-12 at halftime after the first period ended in a 10-10 deadlock.

"I thought we played real good defense, but we missed a lot of shots ... layups that we could have made," said Edwards. "I thought we battled them on the boards because I was worried about that."

Dennis Jones' offensive putback, off his own miss, ended an 12-minute period of no field goals for the Eagles. Stephen McIntyre added a 3-pointer half a minute later to pull Rosewood within 20-17.

Mitchell was glad to see his team convert a basket.

"It was a combination of things," said Mitchell. "They were fighting and scrapping like they always do when we play them. We really just didn't do a good job of executing on the offensive end, and I'll take credit for that."

North Duplin answered with a 6-0 run. Junior point guard Doug Lloyd dished out an assist to Chris Graham and hit a soft jumper -- off Graham's assist -- to spark the short spurt. Terell Midgette capped the run with a layup off Graham's assist.

Jones' 3-pointer, off Sean Cornman's assist, highlighted a 7-0 run by the Eagles. McIntyre and Tyler Muntz also scored as Rosewood climbed within 26-24 after three quarters of play.

The nip-and-tuck affair continued throughout the final period. The Eagles grabbed their first lead, 37-35, when Rains tipped in his own miss with 3:08 to go.

"I thought that might spark us," said Mitchell.

But Rosewood couldn't keep the lead and went scoreless the final three-plus minutes of regulation. Midgette hit two free throws and Graham's offensive putback put North Duplin back ahead for good at 39-38.

Midgette's backdoor layup off Lloyd's assist pushed the advantage to 42-38 with 1:29 left.

"That was huge," said Edwards.

Lloyd hit 2 of 6 free throws down the stretch to give the Rebels their first road win in seven tries this season. Graham ended the night with 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Midgette scored 11 points, while Ryan Killette chipped in 10.

Jones paced Rosewood with a double-double -- 16 points, 11 rebounds. McIntyre added 13, including 11 in the second half.

The Rosewood girls felt they played together in a nail-biting, road victory at archrival Princeton four days ago. They duplicated that performance against the Rebels as seven of 11 Eagles scored in a 61-20 victory.

Senior Courtney Hill pumped in a game-high 23 points and guard Shanita Monroe provided 15 points, eight assists, six steals and six rebounds in the double-digit rout. Haile Meadows added nine points. Ashley Williams and Mary Moore pulled down six rebounds apiece, while Moore dished out six assists.

Rosewood (9-7 overall) improved to 4-1 in league play this season, and collected its 17th win in its last 19 outings overall against Carolina Conference opposition.

"The girls said the other night they finally played together as a team," said first-year RHS coach Debbie Bailey. "Instead of pulling against everybody, we just need to pull together as a team. That's what it's going to take (to win)."

The Eagles' starting five -- Hill, Monroe, Meadows, Williams and Karli Beasley -- put the game out of reach with a 20-0 run in the opening quarter. North Duplin (1-9, 1-4) committed several turnovers against Rosewood's stifling full-court press, and couldn't contain either Hill or Monroe in transition.

"We handled it (the press) the other night and maybe we came out, I don't know why, a little overconfident tonight," said Rebels coach Danny Blackburn. "Courtney Hill, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, she's an assassin. She's one of the nicest kids off the court, but when it's game time, she'll take you out."

Hill and Monroe combined for 20 points and six steals in the opening eight minutes of action. The duo accounted for 29 of Rosewood's 40 first-half points.

"I was so pleased with the five I had on the floor in the first quarter," said Bailey. "Just the team effort of them together was wonderful. They worked the press beautiful tonight ... just pulled it together.

"Courtney and Shanita led the team tonight. They were team leaders and that's what I've been looking for."

Heather Hudson paced North Duplin, which dipped to 1-4 in league play, with team highs of six points and five rebounds. Sam Cates and Jessica Pridgen contributed four points apiece.

Rosewood attempted six free throws and had 20 team assists on 28 field goals. The Rebels had five team assists on 10 field goals, but did not make a trip to the free throw line.

Boys game

North Duplin 10 10 6 18 -- 44

Rosewood 10 2 12 15 -- 39

NORTH DUPLIN (1-10, 1-4)

Demetrius Vann 0 0 1-2 1, Ryan Killette 2 1 3-5 10, Desi Smith 0 0 0-2 0, Billy Mello 0 0 0-0 0, Doug Lloyd 2 0 2-8 6, Chris Graham 5 1 3-4 16, Bryce Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Brian McDuffy 0 0 0-0 0, Terell Midgette 4 0 3-5 11. TOTALS -- 13 2 12-26 44.

ROSEWOOD (3-13, 1-4)

Stephen McIntyre 2 2 3-5 13, Taylor Allen 0 0 0-0 0, Sean Cornman 1 0 1-3 3, Adrian Dahranj 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Muntz 1 0 0-0 2, Dennis Jones 6 1 1-2 16, Holt Rains 1 0 2-2 4, Ahmad Jordan 0 0 1-3 1. TOTALS -- 11 3 8-14 39.

Girls game

North Duplin 4 6 4 6 -- 20

Rosewood 27 13 13 8 -- 61

NORTH DUPLIN (1-9, 1-4)

Lauren Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Heather Hudson 3 0 0-0 6, Sam Cates 2 0 0-0 4, Katlyn Eloshway 0 0 0-0 0, Laura Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Jessica Pridgen 2 0 0-0 4, Katie Swanzey 1 0 0-0 2, Elizabeth Lane 1 0 0-0 2, Jodie Williamson 1 0 0-0 2, Crystal Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, April Jones 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 10 0 0-0 20.

ROSEWOOD (9-7, 4-1)

Courtney Hill 8 2 1-2 23, Shanita Monroe 6 1 0-0 15, Miesha Chester 1 0 0-0 2, April Pfeiffer 0 0 0-0 0, Mary Moore 2 0 0-2 4, Haile Meadows 3 1 0-0 9, Karli Beasley 2 0 0-2 4, Ashley Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Kasie Braswell 2 0 -0 4, Melissa Hall 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 24 4 1-6 61.