Aycock girls upend top-seeded Triton, grab ECC tournament crown

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 20, 2010 11:06 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- The story couldn't get much sweeter for Charles B. Aycock and head coach Laura Romo.

The Golden Falcons got critical defensive stops down the stretch and knocked off top-seeded Triton 41-35 in the girls' championship game of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference basketball tournament Friday evening.

Aycock (14-12), which won just four games a year ago, snapped the Hawks' 15-game winning streak. Triton (16-8) went undefeated in ECC play during the regular season, including a pair of victories over the Golden Falcons.

"It's hard to beat a team a team three times," said Romo. "The last time we played Triton we lost on a last-second buzzer beater. Triton's played with a target on their back.

"I'm just happy to get a win, and from where we went from last year to here, I'm just proud of these kids. They've worked hard."

Aycock finished the game on an 11-2 run and held the Hawks scoreless on three consecutive possessions with fewer than three minutes to play.

"We stepped up a little bit," said Romo. "We weren't rotating back like I wanted us to. They started to attack us and I thought they went away from that a little bit."

Imari Howell led the Golden Falcons with 12 points and seven rebounds. Kendra Speight pitched in 11 points and Ivy Hartzell had eight rebounds.

With the victory, Aycock claimed the league's No. 2 seed and a boost of confidence for the N.C. High School Athletic Association sectional playoffs. The Golden Falcons travel to Wilson Fike on Monday. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

"This definitely gives us a lift," said Romo. "Win or lose tonight, we get to play next week, but getting a win going in I think that kind of takes that edge off. It gets the monkey off your back so to speak."