GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Falcons knock off Golden Falcons

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on January 4, 2017 9:59 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- C.B. Aycock owned the first quarter Tuesday night.

Drive, kick it out, splash -- South Central's defense really had no answer for it.

But a high school game is 32 minutes long -- not eight.

Through careless errors and missed defensive assignments, CBA's momentum slowly faded away in the remaining three quarters. South Central took advantage of the holes and dealt a 50-44 loss to the Golden Falcons.

"It was very different," said CBA head coach Tangela Faulkner regarding the second half. "We didn't play like we initially did. We turned the ball over way too much. And we sped the game up way too much. We weren't executing our plays on offense."

Before the second-half collapse, the Golden Falcons arguably had their most efficient offensive stretch all season in the opening minutes.

South Central took a 4-0 lead, but CBA's Cassandra Lassiter responded with a 3-pointer. The senior guard nailed three more long-range baskets in the quarter, giving her 14 points in eight minutes.

Tanika Powell and Alexis Edmundson also chipped in one 3-pointer apiece to give the Golden Falcons six total in the first quarter.

"They were executing and doing the things we talked about -- looking for that outside shot," Faulkner said. "Our guards were on fire. It was like they couldn't miss anything."

The shots that were falling in the first quarter harmlessly banged against the rim for the remaining 24 minutes.

CBA's 20-8 first-quarter lead dwindled to 38-37 by the end of the third quarter.

Just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, South Central grabbed a 39-38 lead. Then it turned to 41-38, and eventually 44-38 -- a backbreaking 7-0 run.

The Golden Falcons were 5-of-28 from inside the 3-point line, and the 17 turnovers only added to the anguish.

"It wasn't so much exhaustion as much as not thinking through what we were supposed to be doing," Faulkner said. "I think after they took a 3-point lead and the coach celebrated really big, it kind of got in our girls' heads."

Lassiter led the Golden Falcons with 22 points, but only three were scored in the second half. The next highest scorer was Powell with 12 points.

South Central -- displaying offensive balance -- had four players with at least eight points.

Faulkner knew her girls wanted this game, and said she was proud of how they fought down the stretch.

With a road match looming against North Lenoir today, the first-year coach hopes for better execution in all four quarters.

"We need to run the play," Faulkner said. "Because we did so good in the first quarter, I think they were looking for the same type of game. But when the defense changes, we have to do something different."