SBMOP WINTER CLASSIC: Goldsboro boys defend title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 30, 2016 10:23 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Goldsboro had heard the talk.

The Cougars walked the walk Thursday evening.

And they're still "King of the County."

Jaryan Hargis earned Most Valuable Player honors with a 20-point effort during a 75-67 victory over heralded Wayne Country Day contest before a vocal crowd inside Kornegay Arena.

Goldsboro claimed its second consecutive Southern Bank/Mount Olive Pickle Winter Classic championship, and third overall in the tournament's four-year history.

"I think we came into this game with a chip on our shoulder," Cougars head coach Russell Stephens said. "There was a little bit of talk who was going to be the new 'king of the county' and our guys kind of took that a little personal. They were hungry tonight.

"They tried to prove a point."

The Cougars did ... loud and clear.

For 28 minutes, this up-and-down affair was a blur of old gold and maize as Goldsboro slashed into the lanes, created havoc in the open court with its quickness and crashed the boards with authority.

It all started inside.

Ronnie Tookes brought his lunch pail and immediately punched his timecard in frantic first quarter. The 6-foot-1 senior forward pulled down five rebounds, blocked three shots, dished out an assist and logged eight points.

His play further ignited a hungry pack of Cougars, who sent WCDS sophomore Jamal King to the bench with his second foul just 41/2 minutes into the game. King finished with a double-double -- 11 points, 10 rebounds.

"Coach talked with us before the game about defending and that our offense would come," Hargis said. "We played with a lot of effort, played tough, fast...got everything done that coach wanted us to get done. He really wanted us to play to the post, but shots started falling and we started shooting."

Hargis, especially.

The soft-spoken senior guard drained his first 3 off an assist from DJ Gaddis in the second quarter.

He buried another.

"It was a beautiful thing to see," Stephens said.

Hargis compiled 13 second-quarter points -- nine from behind the arc -- as Goldsboro stepped into the locker room with a 40-35 lead. Point guard Jimmie Sanders' 23-point effort kept the Chargers within striking distance.

Until the third.

Goldsboro's taller lineup, the second part of its gameplan, created some length on the guards. WCDS ran a two-man screen that gave Sanders open looks from between 13 to 15 feet, which he knocked down with ease.

Gaddis took over where Hargis left off. The senior guard took his defender off the dribble and kissed several right-handed shots off the glass. Starters Tyohn McKinzie and Isaiah Wilder became factors on the boards and combined for 10 points.

The Cougars' perilous two-possession lead swelled to 64-42 after three quarters.

"(The) third quarter was huge," WCDS head coach David Flowers said. "It seemed like some of them quit, I'm not saying all of them did, when they didn't need to. It was OK because the game wasn't out of hand, we were fine.

"The thing that bothered me is our defense just kind of went away. We didn't defend well at all. You could just see the life get sucked out of my team and I don't like that at all."

WCDS opened the final period with a mini 7-2 run that included a 3 from Marcus Metcalf and two uncontested jumpers by Sanders, who piled up a single-game tournament record 39 points by night's end.

King's one-handed, rim-rocking slam, another Metcalf basket and Sanders' steal and layup closed the gap to 70-60 with 2:08 left in regulation. The Chargers pulled to within single digits before Hargis, Gaddis and Isaiah Cogdell combined to hit 5 of 10 free throws down the stretch which stalled any further comeback attempts.

Flowers said his team waited too late to rally and failed to create ways to put the ball in the basket when 3-pointers -- which had been the team's offensive staple over the past four games -- constantly clanged off the iron.

Stephens lauded his team for following its gameplan with the taller players defending well and the team keeping the tempo. Sure, the scheme allowed Sanders to roam free to score and lead to an "exceptional" effort, especially over the final 21/2 minutes.

"We knew we had to give up something tonight and he kept them in it late in the game," said Stephens, who is now 9-1 all-time in four Classic appearances. "But for 28 minutes, it was definitely Cougar basketball."

And a performance fitting for a king.