Rosewood - Manteo

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 24, 2011 1:47 PM

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The light switch finally came on for Rosewood in the third quarter.

Manteo stayed in the dark.

Cody Harris buried two 3-pointers during a decisive, game-breaking run and the Eagles eliminated the Redskins, 59-45, from the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A boys' basketball playoffs Wednesday evening.

Rosewood (15-9 overall) earned its first appearance in a sectional championship since 1976, and will travel to Four Rivers champion Camden County on Friday. The No. 7-ranked Bears (22-5) ousted Tar-Roanoke runner-up Weldon.

Tip-off is 7 p.m.

Jacquez Raynor collected a double-double, 16 points and 12 rebounds, for the Eagles, who logged their fifth consecutive win. Jyonte Raynor provided 13 points and four assists, while Garrett Burns supplied nine points off the bench.

The teams worked through four ties and seven lead changes in the opening half. Jyonte Raynor's two free throws gave Rosewood a 20-19 advantage at halftime.

"They ran that 1-2-2 zone well, but we really didn't know how far they were going to extend," said Rosewood head coach Daniel Mitchell. "They came out, got in the passing lanes well and made us run the offense away from the basket, which bothered us early on.

"It kept us from getting into an offensive flow and we turned the ball over too many times, I thought."

The Redskins forged ties at 22-22 and 24-24 before Raynor got a favorable bounce on a 3-pointer off Harris' assist early in the third period. Manteo pulled within 27-26 and Rosewood answered with a 13-0 run that started on back-to-back baskets from Dee Mabry and Jacquez Raynor.

Harris and Burns combined for three straight 3-pointers during the surge and the Eagles led 40-26 with 90 seconds remaining in the quarter.

"We knocked down a couple of shots, got a couple of turnovers and easy baskets ... things just seemed to go our way," said Rosewood head coach Daniel Mitchell.

Rosewood's lead ballooned to 49-33 just 1 1/2 minutes into the final quarter. The Redskins (14-12) struggled to get defensive stops and the Eagles sealed the outcome with a 7 of 7 effort at the free throw line.