Girls' Basketball: Bess sisters shine for Southern Wayne

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on December 3, 2016 10:21 PM

• Print
• Email

Southern Wayne's Samiya Bess is a nightmare matchup on the court.

So is her sister, Iyahna Bess. It's hard enough to guard one of them. If both are in a shooting rhythm, good luck. 

Just ask Goldsboro.

The Bess sisters -- who combined for 35 points and 26 rebounds -- overwhelmed the Cougars' defense, and led the Saints to a 63-47 victory at Norvell T. Lee Gym Friday night.

"Samiya is so long with her wingspan," said Saints' assistant coach Takisha Vann. "Iyahna has the killer instinct -- she drives and gets to the free throw line. And when Samiya's down there, they feed off each other well."

Iyahna, being the older sibling, was the opening act of the Bess show.

After the first quarter, the game was tied at 10-10. Iyahna, with a smooth shooting stroke, tallied  eight points in the second quarter. Her effort helped the Saints build a 31-17 lead by halftime.

Samiya decided that she was going to provide the closing act in the third quarter.

The sophomore forward clinched a double-double before halftime. Out of the locker room, Samiya used her length to grab offensive rebounds and follow shots. She outscored Goldsboro 14-11 in the third quarter.

Goldsboro head coach Latina Bullock attributed the loss to a lack of focus, which cost the Cougars key possessions and led to unforced turnovers.

"We just didn't play any defense," Bullock said. "We beat them when we went down there at SW. Same group of girls. I had the same group of girls, and (Saints' head coach Ricky Lofton) had the same. We weren't aggressive enough."

When the Cougars won the first matchup, both Bess girls were held to nine points. However, on Friday night, Samiya finished with a game-high 23 points and 18 rebounds. Iyahna scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards. Nadia Chesnutt and Ebony Fuller each added seven points.

Offensively, Goldsboro was led by Destiny Lucas who posted a team-high 19 points. Tziah Kelly hit three three-pointers and finished with 15 points, four assists and six rebounds.

With the win, SW moved to 2-4 and ended a two-game losing streak. Goldsboro has now lost three of its first four games of the season, with the only victory being a road triumph against the Saints on Nov. 23.

After an 0-4 start to begin last season, the Saints are already off to a better start in 2016.

Vann believes the team can use the win against Goldsboro as an example of the team's true potential.

"Hopefully going into conference, we can build off of this (win)," Vann said.

"We can continue to improve as we go through the year."