E. Wayne boys rally past Goldsboro
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 16, 2009 1:47 PM
One defensive adjustment left Goldsboro dazed and confused.
Eastern Wayne switched to a 2-3 zone defense in the second half to limit the Cougars' outside shooting and rallied for a 59-49, non-conference win Tuesday evening in New Hope.
The Warriors trailed 31-25 at the half. They switched to the zone, finished the third quarter on an 11-2 run and grabbed a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Goldsboro struggled to knock down outside shots, seemed disinterested in penetrating against the zone and committed 12 second-half turnovers.
"I think against the zone we settled for outside shots," said Goldsboro head coach Patrick Reynell. "Our guards didn't want to attack it and our outside shots weren't falling, and we didn't know what to do so we kept shooting."
Eastern Wayne capitalized on the Cougars' turnovers with transition opportunities and outscored Goldsboro 34-18 in the second half.
"That kind of loosened us up a little bit and kind of put them back on their heels at that time," said Warriors head coach Marvin Bowman. "I thought we played with a lot of intensity. We were able to knock down some shots and that made a difference."
Eastern Wayne (4-3 overall) needed less than four minutes to build a 50-41 advantage early in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 11 points.
After scoring a career-best 24 points in a victory over Wilson Hunt on Friday night, Will White scored a game-high 17 points including 10 in the second half.
"Right now Will is riding really, really high," said Bowman. "I thought he did some smart things. He moved the ball. He's finishing on his shots and he's looking for some of the other players. I feel like we've still got a long way to go, but I'm very pleased with us at this point."
Rasean Brewington led the Cougars (3-3) with 16 points and James Williams contributed eight. Robert Washington had 11 points for the Warriors.
Goldsboro visits North Lenoir tonight in hopes of snapping its two-game losing streak.
"I was hoping we would come out after losing on Friday with a little more intensity," said Reynell. "I'm a little disappointed in their body language in the second half. As long as we're ready by conference play and we can learn from these mistakes we'll be all right."
Eastern Wayne travels to Wilson Hunt on Thursday night.