Eastern Wayne defeats Southern Wayne
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on January 5, 2011 1:47 PM
DUDLEY -- Eastern Wayne played under control.
Southern Wayne ran amok.
The Warriors made their free throws in crunch time.
The Saints did not.
Those two key factors led to Eastern Wayne pulling off a 61-58 upset over its county rival on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' basketball scene Tuesday evening.
"I was proud of my guys for playing our game and closing it out down the stretch," said Eastern Wayne head coach Marvin Bowman. "We had some guys really step up big."
Particularly Lee Atkinson.
After Southern Wayne guard Delfawn Worrells opened the third quarter with a pair of thunderous slam dunks that gave the Saints a 29-28 lead, Atkinson answered the challenge. The sophomore was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws. The next possession he buried a shot from beyond the arc, and followed that with a driving runner off the glass.
The eight consecutive points put the Warriors back in the driver's seat.
"They flat out wanted it more than we did tonight," said Southern Wayne head coach Russell Stephens. "We did not shoot the ball well, and every time the ball was loose we were late getting to it."
A 3-pointer by Bernard Gross cut the Warriors' lead to three in the waning seconds of the third quarter. However, the Saints could never get the key basket to ignite a scoring run.
Lamar Best made sure the Warriors' lead was safe at the charity stripe. Best sank seven-of-eight free throws in the final period to ensure the win. Best finished with 18 points, with 16 of those coming off of free throws.
Atkinson added 15 points for the Warriors (8-4 overall, 3-0 ECC). Eastern Wayne connected on 27-36 foul shots on the night.
Southern Wayne was led by Worrells' sterling offensive outing that included 19 points and seven rebounds. Bernard Gross added 12 points and seven boards.
"I think we were playing off of the last game and you can't do that in this game," said Stephens. "We were flat and it showed because they made all the plays that they needed to win the game."
Southern Wayne (9-3, 2-1) travels to South Johnston on Friday, while Eastern Wayne plays host to Charles B. Aycock.