BOYS' BASKETBALL: Cougars overwhelm Jaguars

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on December 17, 2016 11:25 PM

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Goldsboro head coach Latina Bullock-Williams has constantly preached to her players that they'll never play the same opponent twice.

Even if it's actually the same team -- the squad will come back the second time doing something different than the first time. Friday night appeared to be an exception to the rule, as the Cougars pounded Rocky Mount Prep 60-19 at Norvell T. Lee Gym.

GHS swept the two-game series.

"They played together tonight," Bullock-Williams said. "We controlled the boards and that made a big difference. We were able to get a lot of fast-break points. They played like a totally different team than the last couple of games."

The game was out of hand from the very beginning. After one quarter, the score stood at 24-5. The lead ballooned to 38-11 at halftime.

The Jaguars turned the ball over 16 times in the first half. Meanwhile, Bullock-Williams pleaded with her Cougars to drive the ball into the lane for high-percentage shots.

"They went man-to-man, and I kept telling them go down and drive to the basket," she said. "And if you don't have it, dish it back out and reset it up. And we started becoming a little bit more aggressive driving to the basket."

Little changed in the second half for either squad. The Cougars outscored the Jaguars 22-8 and forced 15 more turnovers.

Goldsboro's Tziah Kelly recorded a game-high 27 points and grabbed six rebounds. Destiny Lucas added 14 points. Only four players scored for Rocky Mount, and none had more than six points.

Now Bullock-Williams is faced with a danger that plagues most teams after a huge win -- complacency. However, she said she isn't going to let her team get too overconfident.

"Like I tell them all the time, every game is different," Bullock said. "But it takes more effort and more hard work to be able to come out on top in every game that you play. So you celebrate this win, and starting tomorrow, we're right back at it again."