Aycock 'D' smothers Rams
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 1, 2012 1:48 PM
PIKEVILLE -- A balanced offensive attack.
Sound, fundamental defense.
A key conference victory.
Charles B. Aycock overcame a slow start and played smothering defense in a 38-14 Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference win over Cleveland Tuesday night. The victory helped the Golden Falcons maintain outright possession of first place in the ECC.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the opening quarter. Imari Howell knocked down one of her three 3-pointers and Aycock led 7-5 after the first eight minutes.
The Golden Falcons (13-5, 9-1 ECC) pressured the ball relentlessly and got scoring from five different players in the second quarter. The Rams (14-6, 7-3) were held to just two points in the second period and Aycock opened up a 22-7 advantage at halftime.
Audrina Lynch's layup pushed the margin to 30-7 midway through the third quarter. The Golden Falcons forced nine second-half turnovers and prevented Cleveland from getting open looks at the basket.
"Defensively we stepped up like we have been all year," Aycock assistant coach Tom Zietlow said. "It makes for a lot easier shots when you're scoring off turnovers and not having to run through an offensive set. Turnovers were able to get us some easy shots."
The Golden Falcons led 32-10 after three quarters and finished with nine different players in the scoring column. Howell led Aycock with nine points and five rebounds. Ivy Hartzell supplied six points and eight rebounds. Lynch also had six points.
"It didn't seem like we had to go one girl, and a lot of girls came in and we were able to spread it around," Zietlow said. "As coaches we've been looking at this game for several weeks and knowing this was the game we were going to have to use to put us in position to separate from the rest of the conference. This puts us in great position."
Aleiah Sands scored seven points for the Rams.
Aycock visits Eastern Wayne on Friday.