Eastern Wayne boys clinch playoff berth

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on February 13, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Don't remind Eastern Wayne of their record -- or the fact they've lost twice as many games as they've won this season.

That doesn't matter any more.

The Warriors clinched a playoff berth with a 72-62 triumph over county rival Southern Wayne in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference finale for both teams Thursday evening. The victory spoiled the Saints' senior night.

Micah Smith netted a game-high 22 points for EW. All 10 players who stepped onto the court scratched in the scoring column.

"Earlier in the year, our biggest thing between the football players and the basketball players was getting everyone on the same page," Eastern Wayne head coach Chris Roberts said. "We're doing it at the right time. We're finally getting these guys to understand that you give up yourself for the team.

"Do what you do when you're supposed to do it."

While Smith may have found the bottom of the net most often, the Warrior's win was a team effort that head coach Chris Roberts has been looking for all year. All 10 players who saw minutes in Thursday night's action scored.

KK Best, who sustained a concussion in Tuesday's game against Charles B. Aycock, was cleared to play provided an offensive spark with 13 points.

"In the back of my head, I was thinking tonight was do-or-die," Best said. "So I really brought some intensity tonight."

It was a performance that had Roberts in awe after the game.

"He came in, and down the stretch, he was the equalizer," he said. "He was very strong with the ball."

Marquail Roddick led the offensive attack for Southern Wayne with 14 points, but fouled out with four minutes left in the game. The Saints, who run an up-tempo offense that relies heavily on offensive rebounds and putbacks, couldn't get the shots to fall.

"It was like a lid was on the basket," head coach Dwight Smith said. "We had opportunities -- we run that way, we put the ball on the glass -- and that's something we've talked about that all year."

The Saints kept the score close through the first two quarters.

The Warriors' lead began to widen when starting point guard Xzavier Pearsall went down with a sprained ankle. Pearsall, who finished the night with six points, landed awkwardly on a drive to the basket and needed several minutes of attention before he could get up. He made it back to the bench without putting any pressure on the ankle, and din not return.

"That [injury] was big," said Smith, whose team saw its playoff aspirations dashed -- unless it wins the ECC tournament, which begins next week.

"He's normally our guy. He's the guy that carries us. Without him, it was kind of tough."

Eastern Wayne has plenty of work to do.

"We still need to be working on everything," Roberts said. "We don't need to take anything for granted. We need to work on everything that we do. We're going to practice tomorrow and we're going to practice hard."

And, hopefully, continue to peak.

"Man, we've got a lot of heart," Best said. "We're starting to play together and execute well. I wouldn't trade this team for anybody."