Atkins heeds Stephens' call in 1st quarter

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on February 28, 2015 11:11 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

When Goldsboro got off to a rough start in the first quarter, head basketball coach Russell Stephens knew just who to turn to for some energy off the bench.

Junior forward Nakia Atkins.

Atkins stepped in and immediately made his presence known, scoring four quick points and stealing two passes. The reserve continued to be the spark plug for the Cougars, who downed St. Paul's, 68-55, in the first round of the NC High School Athletic Association Class 2-A state playoffs.

Atkins finished the game with a team-high 16 points, five rebounds and four steals.

"I was feeling pretty good in warm-ups, I just felt loose and relaxed," Atkins said. "I know I can come off and play good defense, but today I just felt like I could attack the rim."

About midway through the fourth quarter, Atkins was called for his fourth foul. Rather than put in a sub for him to keep him from fouling out, Stephens told Atkins to continue being aggressive. He stole another pass and scored four more points.

"When you have a kid like that, you can't handcuff him by telling him things like 'look you have three fouls don't do this or don't do that' you just have to let him play and continue to be aggressive," Stephens said. "When he picks up a foul now and then you just live with it. If he's being aggressive the entire game, you're going to have more good plays than bad."

After getting on the court for a game for the first time in two weeks, the Cougars started a little sluggish as Stephens expected they might. As the first quarter wore on, they started to find a groove and outscored St. Paul's 13-5 in the final four minutes of the quarter.

After St. Paul's Cole Humphrey knocked down a deep three at the buzzer in the first quarter, the Bulldogs appeared to have the momentum heading into the second.

That didn't last long.

The Cougars (20-4 overall) came out in the second quarter and turned up the defensive pressure to force four turnovers early.

Stephens made sure to make the importance of finishing quarters known to his players. And when the Bulldogs tried late in the third quarter to get back into the game, the Cougars responded with a back-breaking 8-0 run.

"That 8-0 run was huge for us," Stephens said. "It gave us the momentum heading into the fourth quarter and really it put the game away."

If there was one concern for the Cougars coming into the playoffs it was how they would be able to rebound and defend the rim. Goldsboro owned the boards 39-28 -- 17 on the offensive end.

"The guys were just aggressive tonight," Stephens said. "They were getting after it and (Tyrique) Tyson and (Jaylin) Thomas did a good job down there, and then our guards started chipping in as well."

Joe Baker scored 11 points for the Cougars and Rasheen Artis pitched in 10. Goldsboro faces the South Granville-Red Springs winner in the second round.

Zeke Sansbury led St. Paul's with 21 points.