Greene Central boys hang on in Pikeville

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 5, 2013 1:48 PM

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astevens@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- As bad as things were for Charles B. Aycock at times on Wednesday night, the Golden Falcons almost pulled off an improbable comeback.

The Golden Falcons trimmed a 21-point third-quarter deficit to three points in the final 21/2 minutes of a 57-53, non-conference loss to Greene Central. Aycock's Michael Williams led all scorers with 25 points, while teammate Neil Clark supplied 14 points.

Brandon Belcher and Kevin Ormond scored 10 points apiece for the Rams, who improved to 4-1.

Greene Central knocked down six of its eight 3-pointers in the first half. The Rams used a 15-0 run to build a 31-10 advantage in the second quarter.

The Golden Falcons (3-3) lacked intensity the first two quarters.

"With (the birth of my son) sometimes you get out of a routine," first-year Aycock head coach Tod Morgan said. "Even though I've been here for practices this week I don't know if I had us focused in early so that's on me. I take the blame for the first half."

Williams asserted himself in the third quarter and his teammates followed suit. The senior forward scored 22 of his 25 points after halftime, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Williams' three-point-play with 41/2 minutes left trimmed the deficit to 40-32.

The Golden Falcons hustled and dove on the floor after loose balls. Their tenacious play led to turnovers on three consecutive Greene Central possessions.

"We made a couple of slight adjustments on how we attacked their matchup zone," Morgan said. "I thought the effort was there and it became contagious. We started drawing charges and diving on the floor. If we can take that second half and build off of that, that's our challenge."

Williams' free throws with fewer than three minutes to play pulled the Golden Falcons to within 54-51. Aycock couldn't capitalize on quality looks at the basket in the final two minutes.

The Golden Falcons visit Rosewood on Friday.