NOTEBOOK: Wayne County All-Star Classic

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on May 29, 2016 1:47 AM

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He then made it look easy.

Moving patiently around the arc, Forde calmly tallied 11 makes en route to the title.

Finishing second was Cobb, who rallied late to register six triples. Rounding matters were Faison and Barnes, who recorded five and four made shots, respectively.

The dunk contest, in contrast to its dialing-from-distance counterpart, was more about its misses -- and one make in particular.

Jyrek Robinson and Myron Carmon, both of Goldsboro, joined Wayne Christian's Ty McClain and EW's Matthew Ray-Sutton in the affair -- a high-wire act set to the crowd's anxious, booming soundtrack.

Given 30 seconds per attempt in the qualifying round, Carmon and McClain survived a miss-filled stanza and emerged with standard-fare, safety-valve dunks.

The finals, however, were anything but safe.

Going first, McClain attempted a self-tossed, between-the-legs one-handed tomahawk -- but missed. After another attempt, also a miss, the runway was clear for Carmon.

And he did anything but play it pedestrian.

The senior, who two weeks ago committed to Olney Junior College in Illinois, grabbed Aycock's Ian Best and stationed him squarely in the lane.

Carmon then walked to the scorer's table and with a few power dribbles, attempted to scale Best and hammer home the title-winner.

But the 5-foot-10 airwalker missed, and shockingly, missed again.

With time winding to zero and the crowd in a matching frenzy, Carmon launched again, this time flushing the luggage and prompting bedlam in the bleachers.

Carmon, who staged a season-long show on area courts this season, simply saluted the scorer's table and acknowledged the crowd -- done and done.

*

The All-Star game, Roberts' final twist on the evening, was nothing more than a blinding, speed-based hoops algorithm. Different units shuffled in and out, playing in a chorused windsprint -- defense optional.

Goldsboro's Carmon led the home team to a 109-78 victory, finishing with a team-high 44 points.

Also figuring heavy in the box score were Forde, Faison and Southern Wayne's Kris Cooley. Leading all scoring on the night was Catawba commit McClain, who finished with 56 points on an assortment of make-you-look-twice moves.

The evening, much different from last year's multi-site affair, was a taxing one for its director, who called on many hands to stage the show.

"It takes a lot of people... it takes everybody," Roberts said. "And I want people to see these guys together."

And in a show of community spirit, they did.