Saints march on

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 3, 2008 8:46 AM

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Rarely do sequels live up to their predecessors.

Southern Wayne-Eastern Wayne boys part II was no exception.

After pulling out a 59-56 thriller in Dudley three weeks ago, the Saints crushed the Warriors 70-47 in the rematch Friday night in New Hope.

For the second time in as many games Eastern Wayne's girls overcame a difficult first half to earn a victory this time prevailing a 71-60.

Southern Wayne's boys (8-12 overall) dominated from start to finish. They closed the first quarter with an 11-2 run and their second-period defensive stand put the final touches on their third Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference win of the season.

Leading 21-8 after one period, the Saints held the Warriors (6-12, 2-4 ECC) without a field goal until a minute remaining before halftime. The Saints forced 18 first-half turnovers and rattled off 16 consecutive second-quarter points.

"I thought we shot the ball exceptionally well tonight and our team defense was just phenomenal," Southern Wayne head coach Russell Stephens said. "To hold a team to just 14 points in one half is just a great job on defense."

Using a balanced scoring attack and some sharp shooting from long range, the Saints built a 39-14 lead by halftime. Southern Wayne drained four of its six 3-pointers before intermission and ended the ballgame with 10 different players in the scoring column.

Meanwhile, Eastern Wayne took a step back after gutting out a road win at Charles B. Aycock on Tuesday with its sights set on evening its conference record at 3-3 with the Saints coming to call. The Warriors were plagued by 21 turnovers, placed just one scorer in double figures and visibly felt the absence of Hassan Best.

"Our guys might have been playing a little too tense early on," Eastern Wayne head coach Marvin Bowman said. "Your team has to be mentally ready to play and I think our kids might have been a little tight early."

Desmond Raiford led the Saints with 13 points. James Jones scored 12, John Hart had nine; and Justin Artis and Rashaad Hill each pitched in seven.

The Warriors' Jamere Thomas led all scorers with 15 points.

After cruising past Southern Wayne by 22 in mid-January, Eastern Wayne's girls (14-3, 5-1 ECC) got all they could handle from a Saints squad that trimmed a 22-point deficit to eight with less than three minutes to play.

Brittani Billups' 27 points and Danielle Daniel's 18 proved to be too much for Southern Wayne (11-8, 3-3 ECC) to overcome. Daniel drained four 3's, including two in the fourth quarter, the last one coming with just over a minute to play that was the knockout punch the Saints couldn't get up from.

"We knew it was not going to be easy. I think Southern Wayne would have beaten a lot of teams tonight," Warriors head coach Brent Holland said. "It pointed out some things we need to work on. We've got to stay focused and take one at a time. This is good, you don't need to beat teams by 30 and 40 (points).

"It prepares you for the playoffs."

Tiara McIntyre contributed 15 for Eastern Wayne. Linnet Leonard paced Southern Wayne with 18 points and Shakoria Clark added 12.

Southern Wayne travels to Wilson Beddingfield on Tuesday while Eastern Wayne visits Wilson Hunt.

Boys

Southern Wayne 21 18 17 14 -- 70

Eastern Wayne 8 6 8 25 -- 47

SOUTHERN WAYNE (8-12, 3-3)

Justin Artis 3 0 1-2 7, James Jones 1 3 1-2 12, Javaris Macmillan 2 0 1-2 5, Rashaad Hill 2 0 3-7 7, Monterey Brewington 1 0 0-0 2, Woody Woodard 1 0 1-2 3, Dwight Smith 0 2 0-0 6, Kendrick Thompson 2 0 2-5 6, John Hart 3 1 0-2 9, Desmond Raiford 6 0 1-2 13. TOTALS -- 21 6 10-24 70.

EASTERN WAYNE 6-12, 2-4)

Jamere Thomas 3 3 0-1 15, Divan Hinnant 1 0 0-0 2, A.J. Dreighton's 1 0 0-0 2, Will White 2 0 5-11 9, Hassan Best 0 0 0-0 0, Demetrius Morgan 0 0 1-2 1, Orlando Midget 1 0 2-3 4, Cody Kirkham 1 2 0-0 8, Dominique Sadler 2 0 0-0 4, Marquis Tinselly 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 12 5 8-17 47.

Girls

Southern Wayne 15 9 15 21 -- 60

Eastern Wayne 15 17 22 17 -- 71

SOUTHERN WAYNE (11-8, 3-3)

Kanesha Jones 0 0 0-2 0, Shakoria Clark 2 2 2-2 12, Octave Lee 3 0 2-2 8, Brianna Lofton 2 1 1-2 8, Linnet Leonard 7 1 1-2 18, Kayla Powell 3 0 0-0 6, Clarice Sherard 2 0 2-2 6, Inked Williams 2 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 20 4 8-12 60.

EASTERN WAYNE (14-3, 5-1)

Lindsey Frederick 0 1 0-0 3, Jasmine Middleton 1 0 0-0 2, Tiara McIntyre 1 4 1-4 15, Eboni Reid 3 0 0-0 6, Danielle Daniel 3 4 0-0 18, Brittani Billups 10 0 7-10 27. TOTALS -- 18 9 8-14 71.