E. Wayne's White has career night, host Warriors fight back
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 13, 2009 1:50 AM
Three days after an overtime loss to county rival Goldsboro, the Eastern Wayne boys' basketball team needed a confidence boost Friday evening.
Will White gave the Warriors just what they needed. The senior pumped in a career-best 24 points as Eastern Wayne edged Wilson Hunt 65-63 in New Hope.
There were plenty of late-game heroics for the host Warriors.
Trailing by one point with 27 seconds left in regulation, Eastern Wayne fouled to regain possession of the ball. Hunt's Qwen Ballard converted the first free throw, but missed the second.
White grabbed the rebound, raced downcourt and swished the go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds to go. Hunt turned the ball over on its next possession and fouled Lamar Best, who knocked down one free throw and pushed the host Warriors' advantage to two points.
Rashawn Barnes stole Hunt's inbounds pass and got fouled on the play. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving the visiting Warriors one last chance to either win or send the game into overtime.
Brandon Ward's jumper missed the mark and the Eastern Wayne bench celebrated the victory.
"It's great when you are on the winning end of one of these close games," said Eastern Wayne head coach Marvin Bowman. "Our guys made the plays late and everything worked out for us."
Eastern Wayne trailed for 31-plus minutes before White's game-changing shot. Hunt used a 10-0 run to build a 14-point early in the third quarter. White answered with back-to-back layups as the host Warriors slowly whittled away at the deficit.
"Will really wanted this game tonight and you could see it in how he played in the second half," said Bowman. "He wanted the ball and he forced the action on the offensive end."
Robert Washington added 14 points for Eastern Wayne. Levonte McKiver tallied eight points and seven rebounds. Josh Williams pumped in a team-high 18 points for Hunt, while Ballard added 15.
Eastern Wayne (3-3 overall) plays host to Goldsboro on Tuesday.