Saints run past Trojans

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 5, 2010 1:51 AM

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DUDLEY -- With a week to stew over a home loss to Pine Forest, Southern Wayne head coach Russell Stephens challenged his team to make a defensive statement against Jones Senior.

The Saints responded by forcing turnovers in a 17-0 run to start the game on their way to a 74-37 rout of the Trojans on Friday night.

The girls' and boys' teams from both schools wore pink shoelaces and athletic tape and money was raised for the American Cancer Society.

Three Jones Senior turnovers which led to transition opportunities fueled Southern Wayne's opening run. Trey Allen knocked down a pair of 3-pointer's during the spurt and Delfawn Worrells also drained a 3. Khari Faison's dunk capped the outburst.

"Coming off a Saturday night game which we lost, we let that loss sit in our home white's for a whole week," said Stephens. "I told our guys if you're not hungry you're not a basketball player. I told them I was looking for the man that was going to set the tone for us early. We got some blocked shots and rebounds that allowed us to get out in transition."

The Trojans scored seven unanswered points to start the second quarter and trimmed the deficit to 26-17.

The lead swelled to 39-22 at the half as the Saints made five 3's in the first half. Jones Senior finished with 25 turnovers.

Southern Wayne's depth proved to be a factor as the Saints used all 14 players on the roster and 11 players got into the scoring column. Bernard Gross and Delfawn Worrells each scored 13 points. Faison and Jamiel Price both had nine points.

"The intensity from the starting five was very good," said Stephens. "The second unit was very good as well. They were actually a little tougher on defense. It gives everybody a chance to play and it gives the coaching staff a chance to see who we can play in certain situations. It's a team that we can do a lot with."

Will Sutton and Demonte Best both finished with 11 points for the Trojans.

Southern Wayne (2-1) entertains Goldsboro on Dec. 10.