Goldsboro's boys use 10-0 run to turn back Warriors

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 3, 2008 1:46 PM

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Goldsboro's boys overcame a sloppy first-half effort and delivered in the clutch against county rival Eastern Wayne on Tuesday evening.

The Cougars used a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to cap a come-from-behind, 57-49 road victory over the Warriors.

Goldsboro (3-3 overall) trailed 36-35 after three quarters and was behind 40-39 early in the fourth quarter before using its 10-0 run to take a commanding 49-40 lead. The Cougars forced 10 turnovers in the final quarter and were 10 for 12 from the free throw line in the final eight minutes.

"Defensively I thought we really stepped it up," said Cougars head coach Chris Cherry. "Everybody always says, 'offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.' At the end of the game you've got to be able to guard people and I thought we did that very well tonight."

The Warriors lost starting point guard Lamar Best in the second half when Best was whistled for his fourth foul and then quickly picked up his fifth foul as part of a double foul. Without a true ball handler, Eastern Wayne struggled to maintain its offensive rhythm.

"The fourth quarter is one I really don't want to think about very much because I lost my point guard," said Warriors head coach Marvin Bowman. "Goldsboro did an outstanding job of applying pressure and putting us out of our sets."

Cody Kirkham's 3-pointer and Lavonta McGiver's layup pulled the Warriors (0-3) to within 54-49 with less than a minute to play.

"We still had a strong opportunity to win the game," said Bowman. "The guys played hard tonight. It's just one of those games it's tough to call what happened other than the loss of our point guard."

Demetrio Irby sank three of four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory for Goldsboro. With the Cougars' leading scorer Keovanta McDuffie on the bench in street clothes still nursing a knee injury, Irby put his club on his back and finished with 25 points including 12 in the third quarter.

"Demetrio played well," said Cherry. "We have to work on some of his decision making late in the game, but overall I thought he played well."

The Warriors outscored Goldsboro 11-4 in the second quarter and held a 25-17 advantage at the half. The Cougars opened the third quarter with six unanswered points and used a 10-5 run at the end of the quarter to trim the margin to 36-35.

Goldsboro built an early 5-2 lead in the first quarter but nine consecutive points sparked by Jeniri Cyrus' 3-pointer put Eastern Wayne in front 11-5. Cyrus, the only Warrior in double figures, scored 16.

Tyrelle Jackson contributed 12 points off the bench for the Cougars and Rasean Brewington added 10.

Goldsboro entertains Southern Nash on Thursday before visiting Charles B. Aycock on Friday. Eastern Wayne travels to South Central today and Thursday's contest with Jones Senior has been postponed.