Goldsboro outlasts Southern Wayne in overtime
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 22, 2012 11:18 PM
DUDLEY -- The first time Southern Wayne faced former head coach Russell Stephens and his new squad at Goldsboro High School, the Saints used emotion to beat the Cougars.
Goldsboro answered the challenge on Friday night in the rematch and earned Stephens a 72-62 overtime victory in Dudley.
"I think the first time we played, Southern Wayne wanted it more than we did," Stephens said. "Tonight our guys came out and played much more under control and really did a much better job rebounding the basketball and creating scoring chances."
The game started out as scripted for the Saints, who built a 20-12 first quarter lead in front of a raucous standing-room-only crowd.
Goldsboro turned the tide with a 13-0 run that spanned the first five minutes of the second quarter. The Cougars led 31-26 at halftime.
"That second quarter really hurt us," Southern Wayne head coach Dwight Smith said. "We had some good looks that didn't fall and for about five minutes (Goldsboro) made nearly every shot they took."
The teams battled back and fourth in the second half with Goldsboro maintaining the lead. With one minutes to play in the game, the Cougars held a 57-50 lead and appeared en route to a certain victory.
That is when the Saints got hot from beyond the arc.
Andrew Matthews made a pair of free throws to cut into the lead and Maurice Butler followed with a deep 3-pointer from the left corner. Goldsboro missed a chance to ice the game at the free throw line and found itself ahead 58-55 with 12 second to play.
Southern Wayne raced into the front court and Ronnell Outlaw fired a 3-pointer from the exact same spot as Butler. The ball hit nothing but net and sent the game to overtime.
"Both of those guys can really shoot the basketball," Stephens said. "Butler made a big shot, and then Outlaw hit a three with our tallest guy right in his face. We just told our guys to regroup and get ready for overtime."
Goldsboro (5-4 overall) dominated the overtime session.
Damarian Henderson gave the Cougars the lead with a short jumper and followed with a putback on the team's next possession. A parade to the free throw line helped seal the Cougars' win.
Henderson led the Cougars with 23 points and eight rebounds. Rasheen Artis added 17 points. Lonzia Tyson finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Matthews emerged the Saints' leading scorer with 15 points. Angelo Burden added 10 points and five rebounds.
"Both teams are so familiar with each other and I think that lends itself to games like tonight," Smith said. "These kids play together over the summer and they know each other's games so it makes for some intense matchups and tonight was no different."
Southern Wayne (5-4 overall) will travel to West Craven on Dec. 28. Goldsboro faces Garner on Dec. 26 in the HighSchoolOT.com Invite at Raleigh Broughton.