Rosewood girls fall, Eagle boys upset Jags

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on February 13, 2004 2:01 PM

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Two periods.

Literally, that is all that has separated Rosewood's girls basketball team from taking a pair of wins from Class 1-A Carolina Conference-unbeaten Farmville Central.

After dropping the first contest earlier this season on the Lady Jags' home floor with a lead going into the fourth period, Rosewood (15-4, 8-3 Carolina 1-A) erased a 17-4 first period lead Wednesday night only to fall just short in a 45-43 loss at home on Senior Night.

Rosewood tied the score at 43-43 on a basket by Nikki Strawn at the one-minute mark of the fourth, but the Jags' court-catalyst Megan Zullo knocked down two free-throws with 31 seconds left for the eventual game-winning points.

The Lady Eagles, who will take either the second or third seed in the conference tournament, were unable to come up with points on their final two possessions as a game-winning three-point attempt hit the back iron as the horn sounded.

In the boys contest, Rosewood (6-13, 4-7) kept its North Carolina High School Athletic Association playoff hopes alive with a 51-42 upset victory over the Jags. Farmville, already having sealed third in the conference, faltered against an Eagle squad that consistently out-hustled them on both ends in the second half.

A Rosewood win at arch-rival Princeton tonight, teamed with a North Johnston loss at home to second-place Spring Creek, would propel the up-start Eagles into the playoffs.

"We knew we had to have this game. We want to win out and make North Johnston have to win tomorrow night," Rosewood coach Daniel Mitchell said. "We just need to go over to Princeton and duplicate the intensity we had tonight and Tuesday night."

In a defensive struggle, Rosewood's boys trailed 24-18 at intermission, but posted a 16-4 third-period run with unselfish play to take full control of the contest with a 37-29 lead after three.

Farmville, who struggled against the Eagles' pressure defense for most of the game, took advantage of a cold stretch by Rosewood in the middle stages of the fourth to climb to within four at 44-40 on a jumper by Kendrick Forbes at the 2:10 mark. After Mitchell burned a time out, the Eagles posted a 6-0 run -- capped by a thunderous, one-handed dunk by five-foot, ten-inch senior Javon Williams -- electrifying the crowd and sealing the win.

Danny Langston led all scorers with 16 points, including 10 of Rosewood's 14 in the second. Teammate Taylor Carr added 14 points, while teaming with Kyle Grey to control the offensive and defensive glass in the second half.

The Lady Eagles outscored Farmville 39-28 through the final three periods and forced more turnovers (21) than they committed (15) in the game against a Jaguar team known for its press-and-score style.

"We've worked hard the last couple of days breaking the press. We played sloppy against North Johnston and we worked hard on it and it paid off tonight," Rosewood coach Jerry Narron said. "I think this game will make us better."

Narron, who will be a bench coach this season for the Cincinnati Reds, will coach his final game on Friday at Princeton before reporting to spring training. He added one exception to tonight being his finale.

"Unless we are in the state championship. I'll come back for that if I can," he said. "This has been a lot of fun, and this is a great group to work with."

Rosewood's scoring troubles in the first period were mainly due to inability to score in its half-court sets. Farmville suffered from turnovers, but made nine of its first 10 shots to take a 20-8 lead early in the second. Rosewood methodically started turning the momentum in its favor in the second period with clutch free throws by Clare Narron, who finished with 12 points, and Nikki Strawn, who also had 12.

Strawn, along with Jennifer Boren, Shanda White and Sarah Ardes played in their final regular season home games at the Eagles Nest on Senior Night. Williams, Carr, Matt Hill and Michael Spriggs were honored as seniors for the boys' team.

Girls

Farmville Central 17 8 12 8 -- 45

Rosewood 4 13 12 14 -- 43

FARMVILLE CENTRAL (22-1, 11-0)

Megan Zullo 1 2 4-4 12, Nicole Hammill 4 0 0-0 8, Nevada Joyner 1 1 3-5 8, Kim Zullo 2 1 0-0 7, Ashley Harris 2 0 3-4 7, Natsulia Amano 0 1 0-0 3. TOTALS -- 10 5 10-13 45.

ROSEWOOD (15-4, 8-3)

Nikki Strawn 3 1 3-4 12, Clare Narron 2 1 5-6 12, Shanda White 3 0 0-2 6, Jessica Hill 2 0 0-0 4, Jennifer Boren 2 0 0-0 4, Latita Wade 1 0 1-2 3. TOTALS -- 13 2 9-14 43.

Three-point baskets -- Farmville Central 5 (M. Zullo 2, Joyner, K. Zullo, Amano), Rosewood 2 (Strawn, Narron). Turnovers -- Farmville Central 21, Rosewood 15. Total fouls -- Farmville Central 16, Rosewood 14. Fouled out -- Hill, Narron.

Boys

Farmville Central 10 14 5 13 -- 42

Rosewood 4 14 19 14 -- 51

FARMVILLE CENTRAL (8-11, 7-4)

Justin Foskey 3 2 2-3 14, Javius Dixon 5 0 1-1 11, Kendrick Forbes 3 0 0-0 6, Taureen Newton 1 0 3-4 5, Adrion Hunter 1 0 1-2 3, James Carmon 1 0 0-1 2, William Mitchell 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 14 2 8-13 42.

ROSEWOOD (6-13, 4-7)

Danny Langston 7 0 2-2 16, Taylor Carr 4 0 6-9 14, Javon Williams 4 0 1-5 9, Kyle Grey 2 0 4-4 8, Kyle Bunn 1 0 0-1 2, Dustin Overman 0 0 2-2 2, Matt Hill 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 18 0 15-25 51.

Three-point baskets -- Farmville Central 2 (Foskey 2). Turnovers -- Farmville Central 15, Rosewood 14. Total fouls -- Farmville Central 17, Rosewood 16. Fouled out -- Dixon, Bunn. Technicals -- none.

JV girls

Rosewood dumps

Farmville Central

Casey Braswell turned in a 23-point effort as Rosewood throttled Farmville Central 50-13 in a Carolina 1-A Conference game Thursday.

Casey Grey added 14.

Rosewood concludes the regular season today at Princeton.