Goldsboro's athleticism, aggressive manner to much for South Adelaide

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 7, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Goldsboro had little trouble getting its transition game in gear Tuesday afternoon.

And although South Adelaide coach Chaz McCormick wanted to match the up-tempo style of play, he had to resort to a halfcourt scheme with seven players in uniform.

As expected, the fast pace favored Goldsboro.

Eric Bufkin led four Cougars in double figures with 13 points in a 77-41 romp over the Panthers inside historic Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. Nakia Atkins and D'onte Russell pumped in 12 points apiece, while Ronnie Tookes provided 10.

"This Goldsboro team is a very good team, very well coached, played with respect for us when we ran out of energy, they managed the ball well and they've got some very good athletes," McCormick said. "Unfortunately our boys tonight, with illness and injury, we weren't up to it but it would be nice to have another game with them sometime.

"But we're traveling on."

The Panthers, a club team from Australia, continue play today at Bartlett-Yancey and will head toward Los Angeles to complete their three-week long tour in the states.

Russell opened the scoring a long-distance 3 and Goldsboro scored 14 of the game's first 15 points within a 31/2-minute stretch. McCormick urged his players to slow the pace against the Cougars' relentless defense and organize themselves offensively, but they could never develop a consistent rhythm.

"We got after them defensively," GHS head coach Russell Stephens said. "At this time of year, teams are going through injuries (and) sickness, it's one of those things where our guys played strong defensively and set the tone early.

"I liked the energy from everybody, I thought we shared the ball well, attacked the basket, didn't settle for outside shots. It was just a total team effort tonight."

Goldsboro led 22-9 after one quarter and extended its advantage to 38-21 at halftime. Stephens substituted throughout the exhibition affair and nine players scratched in the scoring column.

The Panthers' Keegan Jones emerged as the game's top scorer with 19 points, while Jack Kleinig contributed 11. The duo combined to drain 12 field goals and shoot 5 of 6 at the charity stripe.

The Cougars held a 35-17 advantage in made field goals.

"We would normally play flat out at home, but watching these boys and with the resources we had we just tried to get into a halfcourt game, pull the ball up to stop them from running and our turnovers hurt lots in regards to just throwing the ball away," McCormick said. "The boys competed hard and tried hard, so it was a good job."