Goldsboro's guards do their job against Warriors

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 23, 2011 1:48 PM

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Patrick Reynell knows in the guard-heavy Carolina 1-A Conference he is going to need his backcourt to deliver each time his Goldsboro team takes the floor.

Reynell has plenty of reasons to be optimistic after watching his guards turn in clutch performances in a 91-82 victory over Eastern Wayne on Thursday night inside Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium.

Sophomore guard Quavus Holloman poured in a game- and career-high 28 points and backcourt mate Moses Ramsey added 14 points. Holloman knocked down six 3-pointer's in the first half and the Cougars' defensive pressure forced 14 turnovers, including eight in the second half.

"I think we have good guard play, I really like our guard play," Reynell said. "They were able to get into the lane and make good decisions. On the defensive end I think what was good was we rotated and we boxed out."

The Warriors attacked the high post throughout the first half and fed the hot-shooting hand of forward Josiah Davis. Davis had 12 points in the first quarter as Eastern Wayne built a 23-20 lead. He finished with a team-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds.

Holloman scored 13 of his 28 points in the second quarter and an 11-2 run helped Goldsboro take a 46-41 advantage into halftime.

The Cougars (5-5 overall) got center Damarion Henderson involved in the offense in the second half. Henderson scored 11 of his 19 points after halftime. Henderson also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Julius Murphy also contributed 11 points.

"With Damarion's body he's able to create so much space and finish," Reynell said. "Sometimes he likes to use too many dribbles in the post. Tonight he was just more decisive and definitive with where he was going. The guards did a good job attacking and giving him a good entry pass."

Junior guard Lee Atkinson scored 11 third-quarter points to keep Eastern Wayne within striking distance as the Warriors (5-7) trailed 67-63 after three quarters. Atkinson scored 21 points.

Goldsboro spread the floor offensively in the fourth quarter and executed efficiently in a 15-6 run that extended the margin to 82-69 with three minutes to play. The lead shrunk to 82-74 with fewer than two minutes left, but Eastern Wayne could get no closer.

"They forced a couple of turnovers and it came down to where we needed to make some stops and we didn't," Warriors' head coach Marvin Bowman said. "If you look at the score and we each score over 80 points and we had a couple of lapses defensively."

Tyrick Kornegay and Javon Darden each scored 16 points for Eastern Wayne.

The Cougars entertain Southern Wayne on Tuesday. The Warriors play host to Southern Wayne on Jan. 3, 2012 in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference opener for both teams.