BOYS' BASKETBALL: Eastern Wayne stages fourth-quarter comeback

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on February 8, 2017 9:57 AM

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It seems improbable, still.

The Eastern Wayne varsity boys' basketball team, which stumbled through three quarters versus county rival and Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe Southern Wayne, at last found its defensive posture -- and possibly a new leader -- over a blistering final eight minutes to post a rally-for-the-ages, 77-71, triumph last night at New Hope.

Call it a miracle.

Call it a resurrection.

Whatever the descriptor, call it a "W."

But for the longest while, it hardly seemed possible.

Six EW turnovers in a lethargic opening stanza gave the Saints plenty of opportunity on their end of the floor, which quickly morphed into clean perimeter looks for the combination of Rakilen Butler and freshman David Brewer.

And the sniper-like duo responded, spotting up and connecting on a combined five triples to give the Saints a 37-28 advantage at the break.

"Credit to their kids for knocking down shots," EW head coach Bill Manning said. "The weakest part of a zone is the corner, and they were knocking those down."

Then the situation promptly worsened.

Southern Wayne (6-17 overall, 4-8 ECC) opened the third stanza with another unconscious wave of deep shooting, making four treys in succession and its first seven shots from the floor.

EW played through the onslaught, however, pounding the glass on missed jumpers and chipping away at a 23-point red-and-blue lead with small scoring spurts of its own.

A pair of free throws here.

A stop there.

A tough 3-point play by Royal, in traffic with a couple of Saints attached to him, cut the deficit to 12 with eight minutes remaining.

Then Wesley Case happened.

The hyper-competitive freshman's on-ball defensive pressure forced SW into a litany of miscues in the early stages of the final eight minutes, and when he found a rim-running Royal off a steal for a one-handed spike with 5:03 left, the Warriors trailed by just six, 59-53.

Southern had answers, however.

Senior point guard Bless Thomas, returning from an ankle injury, scored off a perfectly executed pick-and-roll to keep Southern ahead and EW at bay -- but only momentarily.

Two free throws by Case with three minutes remaining cut the Southern advantage to just three, and when the lefty whipped a baseline dish to Marcus Rouse for a triple with 2:44 remaining, the game was tied at 64 apiece.

What ensued was an extension of the inspired run that tied the affair, with EW creating turnovers via Case and visiting the free-throw line as if it had a rent-to-buy option on the game's outcome.

In total, the Warriors made 17 of 22 attempts in the stanza -- eight of those by Case -- to salt a highly improbable and extremely important league victory.

"You don't usually go to your freshman in a clutch situation," noted Manning. "But I know what he can do. He has the moxie you have to have to be successful in those situations."

Case led EW with 21 points, and was complemented by Royal, who finished with 19. Rouse and senior guard Eric Agee filed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Southern was paced by Brewer, who scored 21 points. Butler added 14 and Thomas 13. Daquinta Strong also performed well, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

The victory moved Eastern Wayne -- which will be the guest of Charles B. Aycock on Thursday -- to 10-12 on the season and 6-5 in league play.