BOYS -- Eagles soar to Carolina 1A victory

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on January 17, 2015 11:24 PM

• Print
• Email

cellis@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- Things didn't look good for Rosewood at the half.

An ill-advised foul on a three-point shot followed immediately by two technical fouls -- all with less than 5 seconds to go in the first half -- gave Princeton seven free throws and the momentum going into the locker room.

Something Eagles' coach Daniel Mitchell said at halftime must have stuck, however, because the second half told a much different story.

Rosewood came out with a defensive intensity not seen in the first half and held Princeton to 17 second half points, including five in the fourth quarter. The staunch effort gave the Eagles a 56-52 victory over their Carolina 1-A Conference archrival before a standing-room-only crowd Friday evening.

Dennis Mitchell led Rosewood with 18 points -- six of which came in the final eight minutes. After a quiet first half, Mitchell established himself in the paint, showing off a variety of low post moves that Princeton's forwards couldn't defend.

Moving Mitchell into the post was one of several halftime adjustments that paid off for the Eagles.

"We took way too many jump shots in the first half," coach Mitchell said. "Way too many 3-pointers. (Dennis) has an advantage in the painted area, so at halftime we made sure to tell him to try and get touches there because we feel like he can really score and have an advantage there."

Zack Barnes added 15 points for the Eagles. His ability to shoot from the perimeter opened up the lanes for Rosewood's guards to drive and kick as well as gave their forwards more room to operate down low.

"The shooting opened up some gaps," Mitchell said. "Their defenders had to step out on him, which opened up the high post for Dennis."

Princeton squandered a nine-point halftime lead. A flat offense, poor clock management, forced shots and botched possessions hurt the Bulldogs.

"We just fell apart offensively," said Princeton head coach Jeff Davis, who said a two-week layoff could have contributed to the Dogs' sloppy effort.

"We just tried to force everything. We were running and making turnovers and losing our minds. That's our 12th game of the season," he said. "We should be better than that."

Michael Wooten led Princeton with 19 points, including an 8 of 9 effort from the free throw line. Tanner Woodard added eight points.

"That was a big loss," Davis said. "That would have been a big win for us. We got some huge breaks with the technical fouls we got. They're a good defensive team, but once we got a lead we started trying to force things."

Princeton (3-9 overall, 1-3 Carolina) heads to North Duplin next Wednesday. Rosewood (8-5, 4-2) concludes first-half conference play at home Tuesday against reigning league champ Neuse Charter.