Local Preps Digest

By From staff reports
Published in Sports on December 23, 2009 1:46 PM

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PRINCETON -- Princeton saw an eight-point, fourth quarter lead began to slip away, but held on for a 29-24 win over Rocky Mount Prep in the girls' consolation game of the Princeton Christmas Tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

The Bulldogs used an effective full-court press over the final two quarters to force 16 second-half turnovers and 34 for the game.

"The press gave them some problems," said Princeton head coach Marty Gurganus. "We talked about it at halftime they only had eight players so we went ahead and went full-court man-to-man, and I thought that was the difference. We were able to use our subs and that kept us fresher."

The Bulldogs survived despite scoring just three points during the final six minutes.

"I thought their defense got better as the game went on," said Gurganus. "We got a couple of good shots off our offense. They made some adjustments and we didn't have some of the looks we wanted. Our last timeout was don't push it and let's just try to take some time off the clock."

Nicole Melvin led Princeton (2-7 overall) with 11 points and Tylan George had nine. The Bulldogs' Rebecca Harlan was selected to the all-tournament team.

Eagles fall

PRINCETON -- Rosewood struggled to adjust to Kipp Pride's full-court pressure and 2-3 zone defenses in a 47-28 loss in the finals of the Princeton Christmas Tournament on Tuesday night.

The Eagles played against the Panthers' zone and struggled to knock down jump shots.

"The zone was a problem early," said Rosewood head coach Ryan Wells. "The press was something we've struggled with. We would like to be more aggressive against that zone. We're not a real good shooting team right now but that's coming along."

Kipp Pride exploited the Eagles' difficulty stopping dribble penetration with numerous layups. Tournament MVP Courtney Small finished with 14 points and Jay Dailey also had 14 points.

"Small, she can play and then when we did step to help on her she dished it off," said Wells. "She's the best basketball player we've seen all year so far. Unless we see something real special she might be the best we see all year."

Rachel Kornegay led Rosewood (2-9 overall) with five points. The Eagles' Taylor Johnson was named to the all-tournament team.

Boys' basketball

Saints struggle

WILSON -- Southern Wayne suffered a 70-48 non-conference loss at Wilson Hunt on Tuesday night.

The Saints (6-4 overall) face Word of God on Saturday night in the Glaxo Smith Kline Invitational.

JV sports

* Boys' basketball: Southern Wayne 71, East Duplin 48 -- Ronnell Outlaw led the Saints with 22 points en route to capturing the championship of the Southern Wayne Christmas Tournament. Jamil Price added 13 points. Hunter Lane paced East Duplin with 16 points and John Moore had 11.