Saints avenge early loss to Cougars

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 5, 2015 11:37 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Hungry, determined and eager to get revenge, Southern Wayne finally scratched in the win column after enduring four consecutive frustrating losses.

Their victim?

A county rival who slipped past them barely two weeks ago.

The Saints played great defense, crashed the boards and consistently ran their transition attack during a 55-46 conquest of Goldsboro before a near-capacity -- and boisterous crowd -- Friday evening.

"Our girls have been working so hard (and) we've been struggling the last four games," SW head varsity girls' basketball coach Ricky Lofton said. "Tonight, they put it together and that was the biggest thing. We got a great win tonight."

It was hardly a great effort for Goldsboro.

The Cougars looked lethargic on defense, went 131/2 minutes without a field goal and trailed 33-13 with 1:15 remaining before halftime.

"We just didn't show up to play the first half," GHS head coach LaTina Bullock said. "When that happens, this is the result. We could have done much better, which would have made it a much better game throughout the whole time."

Goldsboro pulled to within 33-29 after three quarters.

Southern Wayne (1-4 overall) opened the final period with six straight points before Moses took over offensively. The senior buried a three-pointer off of Sterling Jones' assist.

Moses continued to slash her way to the basket, get in position for rebounds and draw fouls. She connected on six of her team-leading 11 free throws in the final quarter.

The Cougars trailed 46-43 with 3:39 remaining in regulation.

"That's the game of basketball ... up and down, they made a great run, but we withstood the storm," Lofton said.

But Goldsboro (5-3) fell victim to turnovers and lost its aggressiveness on defense from that point. The Saints ended the game with a 9-3 run behind senior Zaria Atkins and center Alexus Elliott, whose offensive putback helped seal the outcome.

Atkins finished with 26 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals. Iyahna Bess contributed eight points and eight rebounds. Elliott had seven points.

"We stopped doing what we were doing to get back into the game," Bullock said the late collapse. Sometimes you can't get back what you didn't have in the first place. We fought back, but we didn't fight hard enough."