PLAYOFFS: Goldsboro boys cruise past West Bladen

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on February 24, 2016 1:48 PM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

Business as usual.

That's the notion hoops enthusiasts likely emerged with Tuesday night as Goldsboro worked efficiently to wear down, then polish off, a highly-athletic West Bladen squad, 88-69, in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 2-A boys' basketball playoffs.

The Cougars (23-3 overall) executed their game plan with an even-keeled, straight-faced bit of resolve.

Following a script designed to work the stamina of a Knights club that ran a limited bench, Goldsboro opened quickly behind the short corner 3-point shooting of senior guard Kisheem Faison. He dialed twice from distance in the game's opening three minutes, and along with fellow senior Nakia Atkins, combined for 20 first-half points.

As a result, Goldsboro was able to amplify the pressure needle and commit to guarding West Bladen over 94 feet -- an effort praised by head coach Russell Stevens.

"They play a good pace, but we were able to wear them down," he said, "and Kisheem was big for us."

So, too, was free throw shooting.

The Cougars, maligned in some circles for their poor performance from the stripe in the waning minutes of last week's conference tournament final versus Kinston, righted their performance by making 25 of 35 attempts on the night.

Myron Carmon, Goldsboro's leading scorer and tempo-setter, was dominant in different stretches through the second half, pounding the dribble into the Lee Gymnasium hardwood and accessing any and all points of the floor with ease over the final two periods.

He finished the night with 20 points.

It was the Cougars' pressure, however, that shined brightest. For the game, the hosts forced 13 West Bladen turnovers and made the Knights' offensive movement sluggish.

"We were able to get their legs," Stevens noted, "I don't know how many threes they made in the second half, but it wasn't many."

Two, in fact.

With a 20-point advantage, the hosts shut down their attack -- normally frantic and unrelenting -- near the fourth quarter's two-minute mark.

"We've worked on that," Stevens said of his team's spread offense. "We missed a couple (of layup opportunities), but we'll work on that in practice tomorrow."

And for good reason -- the Cougars face neighborhood rival and four-time defending state 2-A champion Kinston on Thursday.

All things totaled, it's another business trip for the Cougars -- just one with mammoth, potentially bracket-altering implications.