Goldsboro easily defeats Dixon in boys' 1-A playoffs

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 26, 2013 1:47 PM

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Goldsboro head coach Russell Stephens recently taped an article on the importance of a second unit inside every one of his players' lockers and waited to see the impact.

Stephens' tactics more than got the message across.

The Cougars' bench contributed 40 points in a 90-49 blowout of Dixon Monday night inside Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium during the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A boys' basketball playoffs.

Goldsboro entertains Carolina 1-A Conference foe Ayden-Grifton on Wednesday.

Cougars' big men Damarian Henderson and Lonzia Tyson used their athleticism against the Bulldogs' size and muscle on the interior. Henderson finished with a game-high 22 points and Tyson added 14.

"We told them coming in that Dixon has a big ballclub," Stephens said. "Those guys are big. They were just as big as we were. I think Damarian and Lonzia did a great job with interior passing and getting each other open and also running the floor."

Goldsboro's reserves scored 19 points during the second quarters in which the Cougars outscored Dixon 31-18 to open up a 46-28 halftime lead. Freshman Myron Carmon led Goldsboro's subs with 15 points and Joseph Baker added 10.

"This is a team sport," Stephens said. "There was an article written that talked about the importance of the second unit. We gave our kids a copy of that. It is one thing to have five good players, but those five good players are going to get tired sooner or later.

"Our second unit has been playing outstanding. I can't say enough about them."

The Cougars (20-6 overall) used their press and ball pressure to speed up Dixon and force the Bulldogs (7-19) out of their patient, methodical style. The result was 19 Dixon turnovers and numerous easy transition buckets for Goldsboro.

"We had to speed the game up," Stephens said. "If we tried to play half-court ball against their size we were going to be in trouble. The key was speeding them up and making them have to play defense against us."

Trent Marshburn led the Bulldogs with 20 points.