BOYS' BASKETBALL: Rams penned; Key locks gate for Goldsboro

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 16, 2017 9:59 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

DEEP RUN -- Goldsboro found the right "Key" to lock Greene Central's pen Wednesday evening.

Junior shooting guard Keyshorn Smith provided a career-high 19 points off the bench as the Cougars stunned the previously-unbeaten Rams, 86-70, in semifinal-round action of the Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference boys' basketball tournament.

Smith shot 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc on the Jimmy Smith Court for the fifth-seeded Cougars, who are on a "redemption tour" in the postseason. They beat South Lenoir in the opening round Tuesday after a regular-season split and avenged two losses against the Rams.

Next is long-time rival Kinston, which has won three straight in the series and four of the last six overall. Tip-off is Friday at 7:30 p.m. inside Munn Gym on the South Lenoir HS campus.

Top-seeded Greene Central (22-1 overall) needed just over 10 minutes to turn an early five-point deficit into a 33-16 advantage. Donte Johnson (19 points) flushed three one-handed dunks in transition that nearly brought down the house.

The role player stepped from behind the curtain.

Smith drained his first 3 -- a line-drive shot that barely cleared the rim and ripped nothing but cord. The long-range shot ignited Goldsboro, which pulled to within 34-31 just before intermission.

GC led 38-31 at the break.

"Coach (Russell Stephens) said just be ready to play and come off the bench when the starters needed a break," Smith said. "Once I saw my shot falling, I just kept shooting...didn't miss."

He didn't.

Smith, in fact, connected on four consecutive 3s -- the second closed the Rams' gap to 41-40 early in the third period. GC started to show its frustration and became a half-court team on offense, which played right into Goldsboro's hands.

Defensive stops became the norm.

Shots dropped on the offensive end.

The hostile and partisan crowd grew silent.

"We hit that spark and started doing very well on defense," said Smith, who nailed his final 3 early in the final quarter.

"We started running our plays, executed more, came together and they broke down."

Isaiah Cogdell's kiss off the glass off Jarrod Scott's assist gave Goldsboro its first lead, 56-54, as the third-quarter horn sounded.

Quiet much of the opening half, Scott and front court mate Isaiah Wilder asserted themselves underneath the basket in the fourth quarter. They wiped the glass clear on the defensive end, charged the basket offense and paraded to the free throw line.

The duo combined to shoot 7 of 10 at the stripe.

"Wilder...big inside on the boards. Scott, too," beamed Stephens. "We challenged them at halftime because I think Wilder had one foul and Scott didn't have a foul. We were like 'how can you play two whole quarters in game like that and not have a foul?'

"They both got aggressive in the second half."

Scott finished with a double-double -- 15 points, 10 rebounds. Wilder just missed a double-double with a game-high 26 points and nine boards.

GC couldn't handle the pressure and yielded 12 consecutive points to fall behind 71-59. Smith nailed his fifth 3 during the run.

Goldsboro's lead swelled to 86-67 with less than a minute remaining. Rams fans headed toward the exits.

"I give Coach (Bob) Grant from Dillard Middle School credit on this," Stephens said. "He said, 'in football, your super stars are going to win. In a game like this, you can have a guy come off the bench and get hot.'

"That's what he did. He shot the lights out. He united everybody. After he got going, it seemed like there was no stopping the Cougars tonight."

Indeed.

Goldsboro rolled in convincing fashion.

And Key kept the gate locked.