Goldsboro boys rally late, takes season series against EW

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 16, 2012 1:52 AM

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In a game that featured a number of wild plays, the finish was what everyone in the standing-room-only crowd at Eastern Wayne High School expected on Friday night.

It was a thriller.

Goldsboro scored the final seven points of the game over the last two minutes and escaped with a 64-58 win over Eastern Wayne. The Cougars swept the regular-season series from the Warriors.

"It was one of those typical Wayne County rivalry games," Goldsboro head coach Russell Stephens said. "There were big momentum swings, big shots down the stretch and in the end we were fortunate to get a win."

Eastern Wayne started the game red hot from the field and raced out to a 10-0 lead over the first three minutes of the game. Goldsboro finally got its offense going and cut into the deficit with a 6-0 run just before halftime.

The Warriors led 37-30 at the intermission.

Goldsboro (4-3 overall) trimmed the advantage to four points after the third quarter at 47-43. Foul trouble up and down the Eastern Wayne bench proved to be costly as the Cougars consistently made up ground in the fourth quarter at the foul line.

With his team trailing 58-57, Damarian Henderson hit a short jumper to give Goldsboro its first lead of the game with 90 seconds to go. Following a failed Warriors possession, Rasheen Artis sank one free throw and increased the Goldsboro lead to 60-58.

Eastern Wayne inbounded the ball and raced across half court before calling timeout. But the Warriors did not have a timeout to call and were assessed a technical foul. Goldsboro's Myron Carmon hit one free throw and the Cougars got the ball back, which essentially ended the Warriors' hopes.

Henderson hit a pair of free throws to ice the game.

"There was a mistake made at the scorer's table, but that is not the reason we lost," Eastern Wayne head coach Glen Darden said. "We fouled too much and we didn't do a good job of managing the clock when we had the lead."

Goldsboro shot 27 of 48 at the free throw line, while Eastern Wayne made 10 of 21 attempts.

"We didn't make enough of our foul shots for sure," Stephens said. "But in the fourth quarter, when it really mattered we made some big ones to get the lead."

Henderson led the Cougars with 22 points and eight rebounds. Jalen Sprueil, Joe Baker and Artis each added seven points in the win.

Tavorise Hall and Jamel Shuford each finished with 12 points to lead the Warriors.

Eastern Wayne (3-5 overall) plays host to Southern Nash on Monday. Goldsboro entertains Wilson Hunt on Tuesday.