South Johnston knocks off CBA boys

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 17, 2011 11:18 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock dug a hole too deep to climb out of in the opening period of a 67-56 loss to South Johnston on Friday night in Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference basketball action.

Poor perimeter defense plagued the Golden Falcons throughout the first period as the Trojans built a 17-8 lead. By halftime the visitors' advantage had ballooned to 15 points.

"We did not do a good job of cutting off penetration all night," C.B. Aycock head coach Steve Moats said. "Once their guards got into the lane, they were able to score or dish the ball to a big man under the basket if we stepped up to help."

An 8-3 run to open the third quarter appeared to put the game on ice for South Johsnton, but a ferocious comeback by the Golden Falcon reserves made things interesting down the stretch.

Moats put his five reserves on the floor at the same time in the closing seconds of the third period and watched as the group cut the deficit from 20 points to just six with three minutes to play. A 3-point basket by Cody Garris capped the run and led to a South Johnston timeout.

"We only have 10 guys on the varsity and we have confidence in all 10 when they go on the floor," Moats said. "Tonight our bench guys came in and gave us what we needed, and that was a spark, there just wasn't enough time to come all the way back."

South Johnston iced the game at the free throw line over the final two minutes. D.J. Collins paced the Trojans with 22 points and six assists. Joel Wilson and Javontae Burns each added nine points in the win.

Michael Williams led the Golden Falcons with 12 points. Greg Williams added nine points and Shakel Powell tallied six points.

"We were coming off a good effort on Tuesday night against North Lenoir," Moats said. "So it was a little dissappointing that we came out flat on the offensive end tonight, but it's basketball and you are going to have nights like that."

C.B. Aycock (1-7 overall, 1-2 ECC) entertains Goldsboro on Tuesday.