Warriors dump Hawks

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 3, 2011 1:47 PM

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Coming off their biggest win of the season, the Eastern Wayne boys' basketball team rode the wave of emotion to a blowout of Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rival North Lenoir on Tuesday night.

On night after dropping Southern Wayne, the Warriors led from start to finish in a 71-52 victory. In a game that featured far less drama, Eastern Wayne rolled out to a huge first-quarter advantage.

A pair of baskets by Josiah Davis and a long 3-pointer by Lee Atkinson helped the Warriors claim a 15-1 lead over the first six minutes of the contest.

"I thought our defense during that stretch was excellent," said Eastern Wayne head coach Marvin Bowman. "We were able to come out with the right attitude and get a couple of easy buckets in transition to kind of get us going."

North Lenoir used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to single digits early in the second quarter, but a basket by Javon Darden and a pair of free throws from Robert Washington stalled the Hawks rally. The visitors would never close within nine points again.

Because both teams were playing for the second consecutive night, each head coach tried to work in reserve players early and often. The strategy worked perfectly for the Warriors (12-6 overall, 7-2 ECC), who played 15 different players and got points from 13 scorers.

"We were glad to see some of our young guys get some time because of the number of minutes that our starters had to play against Southern Wayne," said Bowman. "It's always good to get them in and see how they react. Plus it motivates every guy to practice harder knowing that they might be called on."

Josiah Davis paced the Eastern Wayne offense with 11 points. Lee Atkinson added nine points in the win. Brandon Williams finished with five points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Marsharee Troy sank four 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 16 points off the bench. Kevin Robinson added eight points.

North Lenoir (11-10, 5-5) plays host to Triton on Feb.8. Eastern Wayne travels to county rival Charles B. Aycock on Friday.