Aycock boys rally but fall to Clayton

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 21, 2007 1:49 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Even after his club's eighth loss of the season, David West was smiling like he knows something other coaches don't.

The Charles B. Aycock boys basketball coach watched his Golden Falcons rally from an 11-point, first-half deficit to take a late fourth-quarter lead. But Clayton held off West's team for a 51-41, non-conference victory Thursday evening.

Aycock's girls shook off a slow start but failed to maintain the same intensity in the second half en route to a 55-29 loss.

At 2-8 overall, the Aycock boys have already won two more times than they did all last season. West is beginning to see full-fledged results of a lengthy journey of maturation his team began quite some time ago.

"That's the trademark of this basketball team," West said. "You'll never see us give up. You'll never see us quit."

Leonard Compton's five straight points to open the fourth quarter gave the Golden Falcons their first lead of the night at 34-33.

Compton tied the game at 36-36 with a jumper, but missed a pair of key technical foul free throws with his team trailing 39-38 and less than 3 1/2 minutes to play. Aycock never got any closer.

Clayton closed the game on a 12-3 spurt, with 10 of those 12 points coming from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Golden Falcons missed five free throws and a pivotal layup in the closing minutes. Aycock shot just 9 of 16 from the charity stripe.

Still, West wasn't faulting his club's performance.

"Tonight I think we've doubled our effort from the beginning of the year," West said. "Even when we beat Goldsboro I think we've doubled our effort since then. If they keep playing as hard as they did tonight than we're eventually going to turn the corner.

"We have improved immensely. We'll turn some heads eventually this year, I'm sure of it."

Clayton held a 25-18 lead at the start of the second half, but a 6-0 Aycock run midway through the third quarter quickly closed the margin to 29-26. Donte Tabron drained a late jumper and Clayton was on top 33-29 entering the fourth.

Mark Parker's 3-pointer put Clayton up 25-14 late in the first half, but layups from Jonathan Williams and Isaac Royals had the Golden Falcons down 25-18 at the break.

The Comets opened the game on a 10-2 run before Aycock came storming back. Tyheim Pitt's 3-pointer, Devon Newsome's layup and Williams' free throws trimmed the lead to 14-10 after one quarter.

Williams led the Golden Falcons with 14 points, while Compton added nine, Royals tallied six and Michael King finished with five. Clint Mixon paced the Comets with 11 points.

Clayton's girls raced out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, before Aycock (1-9) had the margin down to 14-7 heading to the second quarter. The lead grew back to 17-10 on Kate Anderson's 3-pointer, until Chantel Gaines scored eight of the game's next 14 points for the Golden Falcons.

Aycock trailed 23-18 at halftime.

Clayton dominated the second half, outscoring Aycock 32-11. The Golden Falcons turned the ball over 26 times, and appeared to be out of the game by the end of the third quarter.

"I don't know what it is," Aycock head coach Carrie Reynell said. "We'll have a great half and then we'll turn around and look like we've never played or it's our first game. I know it's something mental because we have the ability.

"I just don't know how to tap in to it and fix it."

Gaines finished with 21 points, but was one of just three Golden Falcons to score. Mamikka Young scored a game-high 23 points for Clayton.

Aycock entertains Wilson Fike tonight.

Boys

Clayton 14 11 8 18 -- 51

C.B. Aycock 10 8 11 12 -- 41

CLAYTON

Donte Tabron 2 1 0-0 7, Jarrell Moses 1 0 6-6 8, Harrison Smith 1 0 2-2 4, Clint Mixon 2 1 4-4 11, Sabastian Banks 1 0 1-2 3, Brandon McPhatter 1 0 1-2 3, Antwan Ray 2 0 1-1 5, Mark Parker 0 3 0-0 9, Tim Williams 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 10 5 16-19 51.

C.B. AYCOCK (2-8)

Isaac Royals 3 0 0-0 6, Tyheim Pitt 0 1 0-1 3, Leonard Compton 2 1 2-4 9, Devon Newsome 1 0 2-3 4, Jonathan Williams 5 0 4-6 14, Michael King 2 0 1-2 5. TOTALS -- 13 2 9-16 41.

Girls

Clayton 14 9 15 17 -- 55

C.B. Aycock 7 11 6 5 -- 29

CLAYTON

Millie Lackey 1 0 1-2 3, Kate Anderson 2 1 1-2 8, Mamikka Young 11 0 1-1 23, Amber Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Porsoha Armwood 2 0 0-0 4, Jessica Parker 1 0 0-0 2, Shanquetta Moore 1 0 1-2 3, Sydney Daniels 1 0 0-0 2, Shaquira Hall 0 0 1-2 1, T' Keyah Richardson 2 0 3-4 7. TOTALS -- 22 1 8-13 55.

C.B. AYCOCK (1-9)

Yolanda Pitt 2 0 1-2 5, Chantel Gaines 7 1 4-4 21, Courtney Sheeks 1 0 1-4 3. TOTALS -- 10 1 6-10 29.