Late-game execution costs Saints another game

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on December 27, 2014 11:34 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- When Goldsboro beat Southern Wayne by two points exactly a week ago, Southern Wayne Coach Dwight Smith talked about how frustrating his team's lack of execution down the stretch was.

With a chance to redeem the loss tonight, it was again late-game execution that doomed the Saints.

In the final game of The Mount Olive Winter Classic and a rematch of an instant classic from last week, Goldsboro (9-1) defeated Southern Wayne (4-7, 1-0) by a score of 62-57.

Once again, the Saints had trouble containing Goldsboro starting guards Rasheen Artis and Myron Carmon, who combined for 34 points. Artis had a team-high 18 while Carmon added 16.

Down three with 17.3 seconds remaining, the Saints came out of a timeout and missed an opportunity to tie the game. Forced to foul, Southern Wayne sent Cougars forward Jaylin Thomas to the line, and Thomas made them pay by sinking both of his free throws. Thomas finished with 16 points, including going 4-4 from the stripe in the 4th quarter.

The ending was a déjà-vu for Goldsboro Coach Russell Stephens, who talked after the game about the challenges of playing the same team back-to-back.

"Playing back to back games, especially with a rival school, you have to come out with a lot of energy," he said. "We had that energy tonight. I thought during the 4th quarter we should have extended the lead a little bit, but Southern Wayne kept fighting."

"We've got to do a better job of closing out games."

Xzavier Pearsall handled the bulk of the scoring for Southern Wayne. Pearsall had a game-high 25 points, running a Saints offense that spent the entire night playing catch-up. Despite scoring 25, Pearsall went quiet in the 4th quarter, scoring only three points.

"I think defensively that we found him in transition," Stephens said. "He did a good job in the first half of attacking the basket. We tried to make it more difficult for him in the 2nd half."

Despite the loss, Coach Smith was pleased with the way his starting point guard showed up on Saturday night.

"He was very focused, I could tell that he was going to be the guy tonight," he said. "He was very focused on what we talked about doing. I really liked the way he came into the game tonight."

Coach Smith kept his players in the locker room for a long time after the game, talking to them about the need to stay focused through the entire game.

"We just continued to talk about situational stuff and closing out games," he said. "We have to learn that."

"It was a good game that will get us ready for conference play."

Eastern Wayne 72, Southern 67

MOUNT OLIVE -- Eastern Wayne survived a late run to defeat Southern Durham High School in the first game on day two of the UMO Winter Classic, winning 72-67. Ezekiel Martin led the way for the Warriors, scoring a game-high 26 points. Other contributors for EW included Micah Smith, who had 14 points and Blake Poland, who added 11.

The game was a sloppy affair, as both teams struggled with early foul trouble. Eastern Wayne pulled out the victory despite having two starters -- Blake Poland and Malik Richards -- foul out in the 3rd quarter.

Going into the 4th quarter, EW had a slim 53-46 lead over the Spartans. Martin hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Warriors, who picked up their 2nd win of the season.

"I've said all year long that he's a high-motor kid," EW Coach Chris Roberts said. "We told him today that he had to play within himself, like he usually does. Today that's what he did. Rebounding, put backs, scoring, his little jump shot. He's a great player and he works hard."

Though he was pleased with Martin's game, it was the effort of his entire team that had Coach Roberts excited for the rest of the season.

"It's just great depth, that's what I'm excited about," he said. "We've gotten the football players back, and right now I think we're starting to find a rhythm and everyone's starting to get used to each other. They're starting to jell some."

"I think that was one of the better games we've played as a whole team."

WCDS 63, North Lenoir 47

MOUNT OLIVE -- Joel Davis led the way with 20 points as Wayne Country Day School (8-4) had four players in double-digits for scoring as they cruised past North Lenoir, (3-9)

63-47.

The Chargers led from the opening tip, rushing out to a 20-8 lead after the first quarter. They stayed in control throughout the whole game until a late run to end the 3rd quarter from North Lenoir cut the lead to seven. WCDS clamped down on defense to start the 4th, however, only allowing 6 points in the final frame.

Besides Davis, Victor Miller (10pts) Shahim Muhammed (11pts) and DJ Waters (10pts) all contributed to the Chargers' dominating win.

"I thought we played well," WCDS Coach David Flowers said. "We came out strong early, and then I think we relaxed a little bit. We relaxed a little to much and had to make another run there at the end."

While he'll take the win, Flowers stressed that the Chargers have a lot of work to do before their next game.

"We just made some mental mistakes," he said. "Doing things: not hitting free throws and going back to things we shouldn't be doing. But still, I'm pleased with a win."

Jalen Robertson led the way with 14 points for North Lenoir, the only player to score in double digits. The Hawks had a hard time getting into the post, settling instead for long, contested jumpers.

"Our shot selection was what stood out to me," North Lenoir Coach Anthony Loftin said. "We setteled in on perimeter jump shots and I think we have to do a better job moving the ball."

"We just didn't shoot the ball well from the outside. If we're going to play small like that, we've got to do a better job from the outside."

Spring Creek 64, South Point 57

Down 14-8 after the first quarter, Spring Creek Coach Taylor Jones reminded his players in the huddle that they had been in situations like this before. He reminded them that they knew how to play through adversity and not to panic.

The Gators (8-2, 2-0) took that advice to heart and came out a different team, outscoring South Point (1-6, 0-2) 56-43 the rest of the way to beat the Red Raiders 64-57.

Spring Creek's starting backcourt of Brandon Gonzalez and Trey Hammonds led the way for the Gators. Gonzalez had a game-high 24 points before fouling out early in the 4th quarter. Hammonds, who was held scoreless in the first quarter, came on strong to finish with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. It was Hammonds who had a key three-point play with 26.9 seconds to play to seal the win for Spring Creek.

After the game, Coach Jones had nothing but nice things to say about both of his starting guards.

"Trey [Hammonds] is the engine," he said. "He's the one that gets us rolling. He's the one that gets everyone in the right spots and runs our stuff. And Brandon can really score."

Brandon Reeves led the way for South Point, scoring 16 points. JT Star had 13 points and Nike Muse added 14, but the Red Raiders faded at the end of the game, scoring only 11 points in the 4th. That was the lowest of any quarter they played.

"We didn't really execute," Coach Kody Kubbs said. "We stopped executing. We got that lead and then we kind of put it on cruise."

After an impressive win over Southern Wayne the night before, Coach Kubbs was disappointed with the lack of composure the Red Raiders showed on Saturday night.

"We pride ourselves on our discipline, and we got very undisciplined tonight," he said. "They got us out of our game and the forced us to do things we don't typically do or want to do."