Lady Cougars complete perfect ECC slate

By David Williams
Published in Sports on February 11, 2004 2:01 PM

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DUDLEY -- Artimus Quick took the last rebound of the game Tuesday night and looked around. He was under the Goldsboro basket, eyeing the area around him as he expected the Cougar players to try one more foul before the buzzer.

No foul came. The horn went off to cap Southern Wayne's 72-62 win against the rival Cougars -- a team he was playing with some 13 months ago -- and Quick looked around in triumph.

The Saints were feeling good about themselves after their latest Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference triumph. The young Saints team has gone from nearly eliminated from the playoffs at midseason to within one game of a return trip to the postseason.

A win over West Craven in the league finale on Thursday will give Southern Wayne (10-11, 7-8) no worse than fifth place in the ECC and perhaps as high as fourth place. The Cougars (11-13, 5-11) will likely face Charles B. Aycock Saturday in the play-in game of the ECC tournament.

Goldsboro's girls closed out their conference slate with a perfect 16-0 mark after beating Southern Wayne 63-43. The Lady Cougars (23-1, 16-0) will take six days off before facing the play-in game winner in the ECC tournament quarterfinals on Monday. Southern Wayne (4-16, 4-11) will play West Craven Thursday with a win likely putting the Lady Saints in seventh place, setting up a first-round tournament game at Kinston.

"I am so satisfied with the progress of this group," said Southern Wayne coach Michael Olliver. "They rose to the occasion with a shot at the playoffs on the line. I can't say enough."

Southern Wayne used blazing performances from two players to forge a big early lead. Quick took passes to the post and made the most of them with 17 first-half points. Akeem Royal nailed five straight three-pointers and scored 18 second-period points as the home team blew out to a 17-point lead.

Goldsboro answered with 26 points in the second period, paced by five three-pointers -- three by Adam Wright, who led the Cougars with 21 points for the game. Goldsboro cut the lead down to 42-37 at halftime and seemed poised to battle in the second half.

But Southern Wayne began to run its "four-to-score" offense in the final period. Austin Hood and Derrion Garris worked with Ted Benton to stall the clock and get scoring opportunities.

In the end, Southern Wayne held off Goldsboro with timely free-throw shooting and good rebounding.

"I knew we had to put it away then," said Olliver. "The offense is to score, not just kill the clock -- that was crucial."

"Southern Wayne is not great," said Goldsboro coach Randy Jordan. "But they execute what they do very well. It's a tribute to them and their coach."

Royal ended with an eye-popping 37 points, leading all scorers. Quick added 25 points and Benton went 8-for-10 from the free throw line to set up his 10 points.

Tavon Waters had 10 points for Goldsboro.

The Lady Cougars jumped out early on the Lady Saints using the offense of the outside players and strong second-chance baskets inside to lead 39-16 at half. Goldsboro used its bench extensively in the second half, but never let the hosts get closer than 15 the rest of the way.

Southern Wayne's Jessica Teachey had four three-pointers for the Lady Saints and 18 points for the game.

Goldsboro put four players in double figures. Chevoya Jackson led the way with 13 points. Clintoria Bryant and Ashelyn James had 11 points each and Shemika Hardy had 10.

"The girls really worked hard and made this ( a perfect conference mark) a goal," said Goldsboro coach Gladys McClary. "I said, 'Don't say it, do it.' "

McClary said her team would practice today, but would get a few days off to "heal, mend and rest, both physically and mentally."

Southern Wayne coach Richard Proctor said he may shake up his lineup to give opportunities to role players who have performed well.

"Goldsboro has all the pieces of the puzzle," said Proctor. "They have a point guard, a shooting guard, a post player -- and the others compliment each other. At any level, that's difficult (to beat)."

Boys game

Goldsboro 19 26 14 11 -- 62

Southern Wayne 21 21 14 16 -- 72

GOLDSBORO (11-13, 5-11)

Adam Wright 1 6 1-3 21, Tavon Waters 1 2 2-2 10, Joe Daniels 1 2 0-2 8, Ray Brinson 3 0 2-2 8, Daquan Joyner 2 0 1-2 5, Brandon Grantham 2 0 0-0 4, Josh Broadie 1 0 1-2 3, Chris Jones 1 0 0-0 2, Deonta Anderson 0 0 1-4 1. TOTALS -- 12 10 8-17 52.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (10-11, 7-8)

Akeem Royal 6 7 4-7 37, Artimus Quick 10 0 5-11 25, Ted Benton 1 0 8-10 10, Derrion Garris 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 17 7 17-30 72.

Three-point goals -- Goldsboro 10 (Wright 6, Joe Daniels 2, Waters 2), Southern Wayne 7 (Royal 7). Turnovers -- Goldsboro 10, Southern Wayne 9. Total fouls -- Goldsboro 18, Southern Wayne 12. Fouled out -- none. Technicals -- none.

Girls game

Goldsboro 19 20 15 9 -- 63

Southern Wayne 6 10 12 15 -- 43

GOLDSBORO (16-0, 23-1)

Chevoya Jackson 4 0 5-8 13, Clintoria Bryant 4 1 0-2 11, Ashelyn James 4 0 3-4 11, Shemika Hardy 2 2 0-2 10, Jessica Faison 3 0 1-2 7, Helga Bryant 0 2 1-5 7, April Reid 1 0 0-1 2, Dominique Cherry 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 19 5 10-24 63.

SOUTHERN WAYNE (4-16, 4-11)

Jessica Teachey 2 4 2-6 18, Dionne Dotson 0 2 2-4 8, Tiffany Swinson 1 2 0-0 8, Tomesha Flow 1 0 0-0 2, Sheconda Smith 0 0 2-2 2, Danielle Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Talisa Robinson 0 0 1-2 1, Akesha Jordan 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 5 8 7-16 43.

Three-point baskets -- Goldsboro 5 (H. Bryant 2, Hardy 2, C. Bryant), Southern Wayne 8 (Teachey 4, Swinson 2, Dotson 2). Turnovers -- Goldsboro 16, Southern Wayne 23. Total fouls -- Goldsboro 12, Southern Wayne 17. Fouled out -- none. Technicals -- Dotson, C. Bryant.