Goldsboro downs Farmville Central

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 14, 2009 11:21 PM

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Goldsboro turned Friday the 13th into a nightmare for visiting Farmville Central by dominating the paint and winning the turnover battle.

The Cougars earned a 67-47 victory and sole possession of the Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference regular-season title. The Cougars grabbed homecourt advantage for the league tournament and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Twenty-four hours after an embarrassing loss to North Lenoir, Goldsboro opened with an intense attitude against the Jaguars.

"I thought our effort and our intensity were quite a bit better tonight," said Goldsboro head coach Chris Cherry. "We are not a team with a wide margin for error. When we play like we did tonight we can be very good, if not, things happen and we lose ballgames."

The Cougars got the ball inside to Tyrelle Jackson early and often. Jackson delivered on senior night by scoring the home team's first seven points. The Cougars led 19-7 after one quarter.

Farmville Central (9-10 overall, 6-4 EPC) battled back in the second quarter from behind the 3-point arc. Jaguars guard Calvin Horne buried two shots from long range and was followed by a pull-up jumper by Tominique Hargrove that cut the Cougars' lead to seven at halftime.

"We did a much better job of getting on the glass tonight," said Cherry. "We scored a lot of points in the paint and a lot of those came off of second-chance opportunities."

Despite serious foul trouble, the Jaguars kept the game close throughout a physical and turnover-filled third quarter.

Demetrio Irby ignited the Goldsboro bench at the end of the period with a driving reverse layup. The Cougars used the momentum to take over the game in the final eight minutes.

With two starters on the bench due to five fouls, the Jaguars had no answer for the up-tempo Cougar transition offense. Jackson and Rasean Brewington helped seal the win with back-to-back rebounds that resulted in putbacks.

Goldsboro led 62-45 with less than two minutes to play.

Jackson finished with a double-double -- 22 points, 15 rebounds. Brewington added 12 points and eight boards. Irby finished with 11 points.

Horne paced the Jaguars offense with 16 points and five rebounds. Tominique Hargrove chipped in 12 points and seven boards before fouling out midway through the third quarter. Marquel Bailey rounded out the Jags in double figures with 11 points.

Goldsboro (17-7, 8-2) returns to action at home Wednesday.

"That is always a big advantage this time of year," said Cherry. "We will take the weekend off and come back at it on Monday. We know we will play a team that will probably need to get a win if they want to make the state playoffs."

Friday night's contest marked the final regular-season game for Jackson and fellow seniors Donald Lewis and Keovanta McDuffie.