Southern Wayne defeats C.B. Aycock boys
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 18, 2012 1:48 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Southern Wayne's recent shooting slump continued on Tuesday night, but found its offense in the form of a blossoming young big man.
Sophomore forward Jaylen Roberts scored a game-high 16 points and the Saints remained unbeaten in Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference play with a 52-35 win at Charles B. Aycock.
Both teams struggled offensively throughout the first quarter as turnovers led to empty possessions. Chris Artis scored a pair of layups and the Saints led 8-2 entering the second quarter.
The Golden Falcons moved the ball efficiently during the first half, but had difficulty knocking down open shots. Shakel Powell's layup midway through the second quarter pulled Aycock to within 15-12. Southern Wayne responded by scoring nine of the final 10 points of the quarter and led 24-13 at halftime.
"You've got to credit Southern Wayne's defense," Golden Falcons' head coach Steve Moats said. "They're very quick and very long. They'll make you try to rush shots. I honestly think if we had shot the ball a little better we would have stayed right with them a little bit better."
The Saints began pounding the ball inside to Roberts in the third quarter while beating defenders off the dribble. Roberts scored seven of his 16 points during that span as the lead grew to 42-27.
"We have not shot the basketball very well the last couple of games," Southern Wayne head coach Russell Stephens said. "I think what we got in the second half that we didn't get in the first half was ball penetration. That opened up for the post, and we always want to play inside-out and it kind of went for us in the second half with some guys getting some baskets inside."
Aycock cut the margin to 46-34 on Michael Williams' 3-pointer with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Andrew Matthews' three-point play and a pair of layups from Roberts put the game away. Matthews was the only other Saint in double figures with 11 points.
Southern Wayne (14-3 overall, 6-0 ECC) entertains Triton on Jan. 24.
"I told our guys this is the first time around and if you're sitting on top teams are going to come after you," Stephens said. "Now, we've got to turn around and refocus and do it all again."
Williams led the Golden Falcons with eight points. Greg Williams and Michael Kearney both had seven points. Aycock (3-11, 2-4) visits Triton on Friday.