N. Lenoir boys handle C.B. Aycock

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 4, 2009 12:00 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock kept slugging away.

North Lenoir refused to back down.

The Hawks twice rallied from 10-point deficits to claim a 75-66, non-conference victory over the Golden Falcons on Friday evening. North Lenoir (7-4 overall) completed its regular-season sweep of Aycock, which will become a conference game in 2010 when the new N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment takes place in June.

"It goes back to the first game we played that was similar to tonight," said Hawks coach John Eric Waters. "We were down at halftime and we knew if was close, we had a chance. We just stuck to the game plan and gave ourselves a chance to win.

"I'm glad we won't be seeing them again."

Chris McPhail recorded a game-high 25 points, giving him his ninth double-digit scoring effort of the season. Teammates D.J. Artis and Juel Bizzell supplied 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Hawks rose to 3-4 against Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference teams this season.

Jonathon Williams led four Aycock players in double figures with 14 points. Tyheim Pitt pumped in 13, while point guard Isaac Ryals added 12 points and a game-high seven assists. Khendra Reid provided 10 points and three blocked shots.

"Hopefully that some of the things we saw tonight and some of the things we learned about ourselves, we'll be able to fix between now (and next Friday)," said Aycock coach David West. "Conference games are always big and non-conference games are a great teacher."

Aycock started at a torrid pace, hitting six of its first seven shots and claiming a 13-3 lead a mere three minutes into the opening quarter. The Hawks answered with a game-tying 18-8 run, capped by Artis' layup off Joe Whitfield's assist.

After ties at 23-23 and 25-25, the Golden Falcons responded with a 10-0 run. North Lenoir pulled within 35-29 at halftime.

The Hawks tied the game at 41-41 on Artis' layup and Maurice Morgan's fast-break dunk off a turnover gave the visitors their first lead late in the third quarter.

The teams played a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter and North Lenoir pulled away with steady free throw shooting. The Hawks drained 12 of 16 attempts compared to 7 of 14 for the Golden Falcons.

"We lost focus, got rattled and called a couple of timeouts to try to get us unrattled," said West. "What can you say? It wasn't just all of us, but North Lenoir, too. They're athletic and the ones who rattled us.

"We didn't respond to the call."

Aycock entertains Rosewood on Tuesday.