C.B. Aycock boys open ECC play with road win

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 9, 2010 11:12 PM

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LaGRANGE -- League rivals Charles B. Aycock and North Lenoir played the "anything you can do, I can do better" game Friday evening inside a packed Wooten Gymnasium.

And the Golden Falcons were the better team ... this time.

Poised and calm down the stretch, Aycock weathered two nail-biting North Lenoir rallies and escaped with a 72-66 victory on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' basketball scene.

"Once you get into conference basketball, especially the conference that we're in, you know runs are going to happen," said Golden Falcons head coach David West. "We've got six teams in this conference and I haven't seen them all, but I can tell you this: there will be nobody laying down for anybody.

"It's going to be like this night in and night out."

The Hawks (8-8 overall, 0-2 ECC) attempted their first comeback late in the third quarter. They used a 10-0 run to forge a 41-41 tie, but headed into the final period down by a single basket, 47-45.

The Golden Falcons (12-1, 1-0) answered with their own run. Brandon Winford and Isaac Ryals converted consecutive, old-fashioned three-point plays to ignite a 10-0 surge. Ryals and Artemus Taylor each added a field goal as Aycock led 57-45 around the seven-minute mark.

North Lenoir didn't go away.

Trey Harris and Maurice Morgan controlled the offensive boards and knocked down shots on the weakside of the basket. The duo combined for 15 fourth-quarter points.

The Hawks pulled within 62-59 and 68-64, but could get no closer.

"Man, North Lenoir made two runs that were killing me over there," said West. "Our rebounding was killing us there for awhile, especially off backside, so that's something we've really got to work on.

"(They) were killing us on that backside. They're scrappy, they're strong and they're athletic."

Winford collected a double-double -- 24 points, 10 rebounds -- for the Golden Falcons. Ryals provided 20 points and five assists, while Tyheim Pitt chipped in 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Harris and Morgan paced the Hawks with 24 and 19 points, respectively. Da'Rico Jones scored 17 points. The trio combined for 28 of North Lenoir's 31 field goals.

"The guys showed maturity," said West. "We had a tough schedule before this and I think that got us ready for what we did tonight. I couldn't be more prouder of what they did.

"I like this team because they can run. I like this team because they can play the half-court (game) and I love this team because they can play defense to get us there."

Aycock returns to action Jan. 15 at South Johnston in a rematch of the North/South championship game in late December. North Lenoir travels to Southern Wayne the same evening.