CBA bests Eastern Wayne
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 6, 2011 12:00 AM
PIKEVILLE -- Eastern Wayne hung around.
And hung around.
And hung around.
Imari Howell and Ivy Hartzell finally got tired of it.
The Charles B. Aycock duo combined for 10 third-quarter points in a 47-37, come-from-behind triumph over county nemesis Eastern Wayne on Friday evening. The Golden Falcons (15-5 overall) clinched at least a share of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 2002.
"We've still got one more game to play," said Aycock coach Laura Romo, whose team entertains Southern Wayne on Feb. 10.
Eastern Wayne had aspirations of putting Aycock's title dreams on hold.
The Warriors employed full-court pressure and constantly coerced the Golden Falcons into turnovers. Nine first-quarter miscues put Eastern Wayne ahead 12-8 after one quarter.
"We could have easily been down 15," quipped Romo.
Aycock limited its turnovers in the second quarter, but entered the locker room down 22-18.
"We changed up some things and we pressured a little more (tonight)," said Eastern Wayne head coach Tyrone Wagner. "We had one key player, Tikeya Shaw, out tonight. That hurt our rotation and she's pretty good on the boards, too."
Shaw suffered an ankle injury in Wednesday's victory over North Lenoir, and her teammates missed her presence underneath the basket -- especially in the third quarter.
Howell and Hartzell combined for nine rebounds and one blocked shot as Aycock took over the game. Jasmine Benjamin's back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Warriors their final lead, 28-25, before the Golden Falcons answered with an 11-0 run.
Hartzell, Howell and shooting guard Kelby Dumond hit key baskets to fuel the game-changing surge. Hartzell finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Howell logged a double-double -- 17 points, 16 boards. Dumond finished with two 3-pointers off assists from point guard Courtnei Gilbert.
"We were a little slow getting back on the ball reversals and fronting the post, so that really hurt us tonight," said Wagner of Aycock's run. "We've been having bad third quarters (this year), so it came up again."
Hartzell's three-point play off Dumond's assist gave the Golden Falcons their biggest lead, 41-31, late in the final period. Eastern Wayne, which got 13 points from Benjamin and 11 from Tamiya Dortch, never threatened the remainder of the game.