Ayden-Grifton boys take over sole possession

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 27, 2008 2:01 AM

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PRINCETON -- First place will have to wait.

Princeton's boys bid to claim to sole possession of first place in Class 1-A Carolina Conference play fell short in a 57-49 home loss to Ayden-Grifton on Friday. Both clubs entered undefeated in league play but it was the Chargers who left in first place.

The Bulldogs saw a one-point halftime lead disappear early in the third quarter and the Chargers led the rest of the way.

The offensive patience Princeton displayed in the first half seemed nonexistent after halftime as the Bulldogs forced shots, turned the ball over and failed to cut into the lead. Princeton finished with 15 turnovers.

"I thought we got down three or four early in the fourth and we played like we were down 10," Princeton head coach Jeff Davis said. "We shot too quickly. We had time to be calm and not panic and I thought we paniced."

Matt Dougherty torched the Bulldogs for a game-high 24 points including 14 in the second half. Dougherty's opened the third quarter with a jumper that momentarily gave his club the lead and his free throws moments later put the Chargers in front to stay.

The margin was just four at 35-31 entering the fourth quarter but Ayden-Grifton's 7-0 run to start the final eight minutes proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome. Lonnie Gay started the spurt with a steal and a dunk, Dougherty added a jumped and Steffen McGhee's conventional 3-point play pushed the advantage to 42-31.

Michael Radford's deep buzzer beating 3 gave the Bulldogs a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Radford's 3 sparked a 7-0 spurt that had Princeton in front 20-12 less than four minutes into the second.

However, with an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Chargers the Bulldogs faltered. After Josh Barefoot's layup made the margin 22-15, Ayden-Grifton rattled off seven unanswered points.

"That's when we should have been calm and made seven or eight passes and we slung the ball all over the court," Davis said. "We've been preaching to them all year that you've got to play 32 minutes to beat Ayden-Grifton. We've been getting away with beating everybody else by playing 25 minutes but you can't do that against them."

Barefoot led Princeton with 17 points, Ryan Daughtry pitched in 14 and Chris Hinton added 10.

Princeton's girls saw the combination of 30 turnovers and the Chargers' Teairra Johnson's 26 point performance result in a 61-38 loss.

Ayden Grifton (13-4, 4-0) outscored the Bulldogs 16-5 in the second quarter turning a 16-12 score into a 32-17 margin at the half.

Tiffine Battle was the lone player for Princeton (8-12, 2-2 CC) score in double-figures with 12 points. Danielle Mitchell and Ashley Huffman both added six.

The Bulldogs continue conference play on Tuesday at Rosewood. Princeton will get its rematch with the Chargers on Feb. 12 in Ayden.

Boys

Ayden-Grifton 12 10 13 22 -- 57

Princeton 15 8 8 18 -- 49

AYDEN-GRIFTON (10-6, 4-0 CC)

Lorez Dail 1 0 0-0 2, Steffen McGhee 3 1 2-3 11, Matt Dougherty 7 1 7-8 24, Chris Edwards 0 0 1-2 1, Adam Bouldin 1 0 1-2 3, Zack Pipkin 2 0 0-0 4, Lonnie Gay 5 0 2-4 12. TOTALS 19 2 13-19 57.

PRINCETON (14-4, 3-1 CC)

Michael Radford 0 1 2-2 5, Ryan Daughtry 4 2 0-0 14, Will Gainey 1 0 0-0 2, Josh Barefoot 3 2 5-6 17, Chris Hinton 5 0 0-3 10, Benton Myers 0 0 1-1 1. TOTALS 13 5 8-13 49.

Girls

Ayden-Grifton 16 16 13 16 -- 61

Princeton 12 5 12 9 -- 38

AYDEN-GRIFTON (13-4, 4-0)

Krystal Williams 2 0 2-5 6, Nicole Hyman 2 0 2-2 4, Lakwoya West 5 0 0-0 10, Jasmine James 0 0 2-4, 2 Kavenia Edwards 2 0 0-0 4, Derrrica Jones 1 2-3 4, Angela Crardell 2 0-1 4, Rachel Denton 0 0 1-2 1 Teairra Johnson 13 0 0-3 26. TOTALS 26 0 9-20 61.

PRINCETON (8-10, 2-2 CC)

Daniel Mitchell 3 0 0-0 6, Amber Wood 1 0 1-2 3, Brittany Baker 1 0 1-2 3, Jenna Aycock 0 0 1-2 1, Tiffine Battle 4 0 4-8 12, Summer Capps 0 1 0-0 3, Ashley Huffman 3 0 0-0 6, Rebecca Harlan 1 0 0-0 2, Tylan George 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS 14 1 7-15 38.