Saints earn share of ECC boys' regular-season crown

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 11, 2011 1:47 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Southern Wayne did enough to win a share of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference regular-season championship on Thursday night.

The Saints just took their time getting started.

Khari Faison racked up a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Southern Wayne rallied for a 53-46 win over Charles B. Aycock.

"I am really proud of our guys for the way they fought tonight," said Saints head coach Russell Stephens. "We didn't play well early, but we made up for it with a quality second half."

C.B. Aycock came out of the locker room on fire for senior night and rode the emotion to a 20-12 lead after one period. The Golden Falcons got 14 points from Brandon Winford in the first half and maintained the advantage until the intermission.

Southern Wayne stepped up the defense in the second half.

"I thought we came out in the first half like we did the other night against Eastern Wayne," said C.B. Aycock head coach Steve Moats. "We played hard, made some shots, but in the second half Southern Wayne did what they do best and they began to take advantage of the athleticism."

The Saints embarked on a 17-4 run that spanned the final minute of the second quarter and the first five minutes of the third period. Southern Wayne turned a six-point deficit into a seven-point lead during that span.

Aycock rallied with six straight points to pull within one early in the fourth quarter, but could never regain the lead as Southern Wayne turned up the defensive pressure. A pair of steals in the open court led to dunks by Faison and Delfawn Worrells. A Trey Allen layup put the Saints back up seven points and sealed the game.

"I don't know that Southern Wayne really did anything different in the second half," said Moats. "They just did everything a little bit better and a little bit faster."

Tony Smith added 11 points for the Saints.

Winford paced the Golden Falcons with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Randall Fulghum added five points.