Eagles can't de-charge Ayden-Grifton

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 16, 2007 2:24 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Practice makes perfect.

Or does it?

Rosewood spent three days preparing for Ayden-Grifton's box-and-one defense and defending the low post after a road loss two weeks ago. They knew they'd see again Thursday afternoon in the Class 1-A Carolina Conference tournament semifinals.

But all that work seemed wasted once tip-off took place. The second-seeded Eagles played discombulated the entire opening half and couldn't fully recover in their 58-44 loss at Kornegay Arena on the Mount Olive College campus.

Third-seeded Ayden-Grifton, which picked up its eighth win in its last 11 outings, meets top-seeded North Johnston in today's championship tilt. The teams split the regular-season series.

Rosewood jeopardized its home playoff game with the loss and must hope the Panthers avoid the Chargers' upset. If not, the Eagles (13-10 overall) travel to Super Six champion Union next Tuesday.

First-year Eagles head coach Debbie Bailey could offer no explanation for her team's first-half collapse. She refused to comment until asked about the Chargers' junk defense on senior Courtney Hill.

"We practiced that all week," said an animated Bailey. "We practiced defending the big girl. Everything they saw on that court tonight is not one single thing that we didn't prepare for."

Rosewood refused to set screens in its halfcourt set, and get Hill -- hounded by the speedy Krystal Williams -- any touches on the ball. Meanwhile, Ayden-Grifton's inside tandem of junior Teirra Johnson and senior Cierra Myers controlled the offensive boards and combined for 25 points, including 12 on putbacks.

The Eagles trailed 35-12 at halftime.

"The last time we played them, the box-and-one worked really well so we were going to stick with the game plan," said Ayden-Grifton head coach Holly Hanson. "We used to be a second-half team and the last couple of games we've become a first-half team. It really helps to get the momentum going and the confidence up when we score that many points."

Rosewood nearly shattered the Chargers' confidence in the third quarter.

The Eagles employed a stifling full-court press and created numerous offensive possessions which resulted in trips to the free throw line. Hill, Shanita Monroe, Haile Meadows and Kasie Braswell combined to hit 10 of 13 free throws as Rosewood pulled within 40-33.

"We had some kids to get in foul trouble, mainly our two offensive producers (Johnson, Myers), so we had to have some other people step up," said Hanson. "They did what they needed to do and bought us enough time to get the others back in."

Rosewood climbed within 45-42, but committed a costly mistake when Hill missed her only free throw of the game. Myers grabbed the long rebound and passed ahead to Angela Crandell, who was left alone past the midcourt stripe. Crandell's uncontested layup, and Lakowya West's steal and subsequent layup pushed the Chargers' lead to 49-42.

The Eagles didn't respond.

Hill finished with nine points. Guard Haile Meadows paced Rosewood with 13 points, while forward Kasie Braswell chipped in 11.

Myers pumped in a game-high 19 points for Ayden-Grifton. Nicole Hyman added 15 and Johnson scored 14.

Rosewood's boys suffered the same fate as the girls.

The Eagles committed five turnovers and converted just one of three field goals in five-plus minutes. The offensive futility led to an 11-point deficit and an eventual 71-34 loss against top-seeded Ayden-Grifton.

The Chargers (17-6) oppose regular-season runner-up Spring Creek in tonight's championship game at 8 p.m.

Rosewood concluded the year 5-17 overall.

"We turned the ball over and didn't run our offense very well," said RHS head coach Daniel Mitchell. "They just went out and played better than we did. They looked to be a step quicker."

Ayden-Grifton forced six turnovers and held the Eagles to 2 of 8 shooting from the floor in the first period. The Chargers increased their 17-point advantage to 42-16 at halftime.

Eagle post players Holt Rains and Dennis Jones could never get untracked in the 32-minute affair. Rains provided 11 points and five rebounds, while Jones contributed seven points and five boards.

"I thought we started doing a good job inside (in the second quarter)," said Mitchell. "Holt did a good job of posting (down low). If we could have held onto the ball a little better early on and maybe some looks ..."

"Turnovers will definitely kill you and we couldn't recover from it."

Tanner Carnes led four Ayden-Grifton players in double figures with 16 points. Terrence Peterson added 14 points, followed by Matt Daugherty (13 points) and Steffen McGhee (10).

The Chargers have won 21 of their last 23 games against conference opposition.

Girls game

Ayden-Grifton 17 18 5 18 -- 58

Rosewood 4 8 21 12 -- 44

AYDEN-GRIFTON (11-16)

Krystal Williams 0 0 1-3 1, Nicole Hyman 5 0 5-12 15, Lakowya West 1 0 0-0 2, Angela Crandell 1 1 0-4 5, Julia Blue 0 0 2-2 2, Cierra Myers 8 0 3-8 19, Teairra Johnson 5 0 4-7 11. TOTALS -- 20 1 15-36 58.

ROSEWOOD (13-9)

Courtney Hill 0 0 9-10 9, Shanita Monroe 2 0 2-2 6, Misha Chester 0 1 0-1 3, Taylor Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Haile Meadows 3 2 1-2 14, Karli Beasley 0 0 1-2 1, Ashley Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Kasie Braswell 2 0 7-12 11. TOTALS -- 8 3 20-29 44.

Boys game

Rosewood 4 12 10 9 -- 35

Ayden-Grifton 21 21 12 17 -- 71

ROSEWOOD (5-17)

Stephen McIntyre 1 0 2-4 4, Taylor Allen 0 0 2-2 2, Sean Cornman 0 0 0-2 2, Adrian Dhanraj 1 1 0-0 5, Josh Myers 1 0 0-0 2, Tyler Muntz 2 0 0-0 4, Dennis Jones 2 0 3-4 7, Holt Rains 5 0 1-2 11. TOTALS -- 12 1 8-14 35.

AYDEN-GRIFTON (17-6)

Perseus Williams 0 0 2-2 2, Steffen McGhee 2 2 0-0 10, Matt Daugherty 5 1 0-0 13, Terrence Peterson 4 0 6-7 14, Monte Atkinson 2 0 0-0 4, Zack Pipkin 2 0 0-0 4, Lonnie Gray 3 0 2-3 8, Tanner Carnes 7 0 2-4 16. TOTALS -- 25 3 12-16 71.