Saints roll past rival

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 10, 2010 1:46 PM

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DUDLEY -- Sometimes strategy just does not matter.

Southern Wayne took advantage of several matchups as Eastern Wayne tried to adjust and the Saints walked away with a 64-49 win on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference scene Tuesday night.

The Warriors opened the game in their traditional 2-3 zone defense but were quickly forced to turn to "plan B" as Ramsey Turner buried four 3-pointers in the first seven minutes and the Saints built a 21-5 lead.

After a timeout and a brief eight-point scoring run to cut into the deficit the Warriors decided to stay in the zone.

Turner decided to keep shooting.

The senior sank seven total 3-pointers on the night en route to a game- and career-high 23 points.

"I think they were content to take away our outside game and live with those long 3-point shots," said Southern Wayne head coach Russell Stephens. "Ramsey may have surprised some of the people that don't really know his game, but I know and his teammates know that he is capable of getting hot."

Eastern Wayne got back into contention thanks to some prolific outside shooting of its own.

Lamar Best buried a shot from beyond the arc and A.J. Coley added four 3-pointers as the Warriors cut the deficit to just seven points in the third quarter.

"I thought we played well in the second half, but it was just too late," said Eastern Wayne head coach Marvin Bowman. "We were able to come back a little bit, but we just couldn't make that big shot in the fourth quarter."

Trailing by three possessions late in the game, the Warriors were forced to play man-to-man defense and the Saints answered by flexing their muscles in the paint. Rashaad Hill and Khari Faison combined to reel off 10 straight points and sealed the Southern Wayne victory.

Hill scored 14 points for the victors, while Faison collected eight points and 10 rebounds.

Southern Wayne (15-8 overall, 7-2 ECC) travels to C.B. Aycock on Thursday night with a share of the ECC regular-season championship on the line.

"I think our guys understand what's on the line on Thursday night," said Stephens. "It's a rivalry game and it's a chance for us to play a better game than the last time we met."

Coley led the Warriors' offense with 12 points. Marvin Bowman added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Eastern Wayne (10-9, 5-4) visits North Lenoir on Thursday night.