Prep hoops: Saints play spoiler

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on February 9, 2007 2:16 PM

• Print
• Email

PIKEVILLE -- The stage was set for a storybook ending.

Despite entering senior night with an 0-23 record, the Charles B. Aycock Golden Falcons seemed determined to remove the goose egg from their record in the final minutes of Thursday night's game against Southern Wayne. The problem for Aycock was the Saints and Anthony Vick didn't cooperate with the plan.

Vick drilled a key 3-pointer with 2:30 to go in the regular-season finale to help lift Southern Wayne to a hard-fought 62-55 victory.

"I told them it was going to be a tough game being senior night," said Southern Wayne coach Russell Royal. "I told them we can't take Aycock lightly."

No one could fault the Saints if they were a bit overconfident. They had already beaten the Golden Falcons earlier in the season by 23 points.

Aycock didn't resemble that earlier team as it trailed by just one at the end of the first quarter, 11-10 and by 30-23 at the half.

Southern Wayne seemed poised to seize control of the game as it outscored the Golden Falcons 11-5 to open the fourth quarter to take a 53-39 advantage with 4:27 to go.

Defense then ignited Aycock to perhaps its best stretch of play during the season.

Quantay Poole began it with a steal and layup. On Aycock's next possession, Peacock banked in a 3-pointer from NBA range to cut the lead to 53-44.

On the ensuing possession, Aycock's full-court press allowed Jonathan Williams to come away with a steal and Peacock's fourth 3-pointer of the game sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

"Alex can do that," West said of Peacock's long range shots. "Sometimes he rushes it, but then don't we all. I'm real proud of the way he played tonight."

The roof nearly came off the gym when Williams stole the ball again on the Saints next possession and fed Peacock for the layup to make the score 53-49 with 3:00 to play.

"That stretch was one of the best defensive stretches we've had all year," said West.

Instead of panicking, Southern Wayne wrote the final chapter of the night. Vick hit a cold-blooded 3-pointer to end the Aycock run and its hopes for a dramatic comeback.

"At that time, it's like going to Vegas on that shot," said Royal. "With him -- the type of shooter that he is -- he knows he has the green light."

The Saints would go on to make six of their 10 shots from the line in the final minute to hold on for the victory.

"I commend Aycock," said Royal. "Their coach had his guys out ready to play and they played us to the end. They played us with no fear."

Southern Wayne (10-12, 4-6 Eastern Carolina 3-A) was led by Vick's double-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds while Kendrick Thompson chipped in with 14 points.

Peacock led the Golden Falcons (0-24, 0-10) with 19 points while Poole contributed 16 points and eight rebounds.

"It's one I wish we could've won," said West. "We were mighty close with a couple minutes to go. Seniors Nick (Weaver) and Evan (Medford) have been through lots of wins and lots of losses and I'm proud of them for sticking it out. I just hope they can look back one day and take some positive stuff from it."

The C.B. Aycock girls were able to close their senior night with a win by defeating Southern Wayne 59-49.

Jasmine Dobbin recorded a double-double for the Golden Falcons (10-14, 5-5) by scoring a game-high 25 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Bridgette Briggs added 10 points for Aycock.

Southern Wayne (7-15, 0-10) got a double-double from Lynnesha Leonard who tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Brianna Lofton added 15 points, six rebounds and five steals.

Aycock was able to pick up the victory despite a number of miscues.

"We seemed to eke by," said Aycock coach Carrie Reynell. "It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it."

The game started pretty for the Golden Falcons who jumped out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter and built the lead to 25-8 in the second.

Dobbin was at the heart of the Golden Falcon attack as she tallied 16 of her points during the first half.

"She is a beast," said Reynell. "The last few games she's kind of sparked us."

Lofton got the Saints on track by making a layup and nailing a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 12.

"Brianna's been playing her butt off lately," said Southern Wayne coach Chuck Crumpler.

The Southern Wayne run expanded to 15-6 to make the score 31-23 Aycock at halftime.

Leonard then scored eight points during an 11-5 run out of the locker room for the Saints, who cut the Golden Falcon lead to just two at 36-34.

"We were playing hard, but not smart," said Reynell, whose team committed 28 turnovers. "We just had a lack of defensive intelligence tonight. We were just kind of spaced out and tried to rush things."

Aycock regained its sharpness that had been lacking since the first quarter as it would outscore Southern Wayne 15-2 over the next five minutes to take a 51-36 lead with 3:18 to play.

"I think what we did was that we had to work so hard to catch up we got a little burned out," said Crumpler. "They were just a step ahead of us at the end."

Bridgette Briggs finished off the Saints with six straight points down the stretch for Aycock who sent its seniors out victorious in their regular season home finale.

"I'm very fortunate -- I've got a great group of seniors," said Reynell. "Jasmine Dobbin, Jazzmine Lee, Erin Medford and Lauren Pratt are all positive team players that help us significantly in experience.

"Maegan Yelverton is such a team player," she added. "She comes out every day to practice and works hard knowing that she'll see minimal time, if any. Lizzie Sodoma, Rusti Talton and Amanda Schlaeppi bring a lot of heart and positive attitudes."

The Golden Falcons, who have qualified for the state 3-A playoffs, now turn their attention to the postseason.

"Now it's playoff time -- a whole new season," said Reynell. "Hopefully we can start fresh and have some success."

Boys game

Southern Wayne 11 19 12 20 -- 62

C.B. Aycock 10 13 11 21 -- 55

SOUTHERN WAYNE (10-12, 4-6)

Anthony Vick 5 1 6-8 19, Kendrick Thompson 6 0 2-2 14, Paris Armwood 1 1 3-4 8, Orlando Davis 1 0 6-10, Rashaad Hill 1 0 1-4 3, Jon Hart 1 0 1-3 3, Jabari Dos Santos 1 0 0-0 2, Antonio Howard 0 0 2-2 2, Adam Harrell 1 0 0-1 2, Dwight Smith 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 17 2 22-36 62.

C.B. AYCOCK (0-24, 0-10)

Alex Peacock 3 4 1-3 19, Quantay Poole 6 1 1-2 16, Jonathan Williams 2 0 1-2 5, Kendre Reid 1 0 2-4 4, Evan Medford 2 0 0-0 4, David Gurganus 0 1 0-0 3, Jordan Riley 1 0 0-0 2, Michael King 0 0 2-2 2, Nick Weaver 0 0 0-0 0, Daniel Pennington 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 15 6 7-13 55.

Girls game

Southern Wayne 8 15 11 15 -- 59

C.B. Aycock 22 9 10 18 -- 49

SOUTHERN WAYNE (7-15, 0-10)

Lynnesha Leonard 6 0 4-8 16, Brianna Lofton 3 2 3-6 15, Shakoria Clark 0 1 3-6 6, Brooke Dove 2 0 0-0 4, Ebony Darden 0 1 0-0 3, Cassandra Jones 0 1 0-0 3, Alyssa Bradshaw 1 0 0-0 2, Kayla Powell 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 12 5 10-22 49.

C.B. AYCOCK (10-14, 5-5)

Jasmine Dobbin 10 0 5-10 15, Bridgette Briggs 3 0 4-4 10, Chantel Gaines 3 0 0-0 6, Lauren Pratt 1 0 3-8 5, Erin Medford 0 1 2-2 5, Jazzmine Lee 0 1 2-6 5, Amanda Schlaeppi 0 0 2-2 2, Artice Felder 0 0 1-4 1, Yolanda Pitt 0 0 0-2 0, Lizzie Sodoma 0 0 0-0 0, Rusti Talton 0 0 0-0 0, Maegan Yelverton 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 17 2 19-38 59.