Spring Creek girls move to semifinals

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 19, 2004 1:55 PM

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KENLY -- Spring Creek's Shondalyn Rogers scored 19 points to guide the Lady Gators into the Class 1-A Carolina Conference tournament semifinals for the first time in school history with a 48-37 win against North Duplin on Wednesday at North Johnston High School.

Spring Creek will square off with top-seeded Farmville Central, currently ranked second in the ihigh.com/coaches media 1-A poll.

"We're not just going to show up, but we have to play with everything we have against the powerhouse of Farmville Central," Spring Creek coach Cassandra Tyson said. "It certainly feels good to advance for the first time in school history."

Troia Morgan added two key 3-pointers for the Lady Gators, who improved to 11-14 overall.

Spring Creek's full-court pressure created 17 steals on the game as Rogers had six steals and Austi Joyner swiped five.

Joyner and Yolanda Lawson had six points each.

North Duplin was led by senior Sierra Ward as the Lady Rebels concluded their season at 4-15 overall. Lauren Blackmore had seven points for North Duplin.

"It was a great group. They worked hard everyday in practice," North Duplin coach Danny Blackburn said. "Sometimes we were just out-gunned, and maybe I didn't have them in the right place. They gave me a lot of effort."

2004 Class 1-A Carolina Conference Tournament

Girls first round

(at NJHS)

North Duplin 6 14 11 6 -- 37

Spring Creek 10 10 14 12 -- 48

No. 5 NORTH DUPLIN (4-15)

Sierra Ward 19, Lauren Blackmore 7, Bethany Malcolm 6, Jessica Deniken 3, Marlyn Ball 2.

No. 4 SPRING CREEK (11-14)

Shondalyn Rogers 19, Tomeka Pride 2, Austi Joyner 6, Alex Garner 3, Yolanda Lawson 6, Shantell Patterson 4, Troia Morgan 6.

Rosewood eases

past Bulldogs

Third-seeded Rosewood picked up where it left off in the regular season with an easy, 53-13 win against Princeton in the first round of the Class 1-A Carolina Conference tournament at home.

The win moves the Eagles into the second round against North Johnston, which tied Rosewood for second place in the regular season. The winner will take the conference's second seed going into the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

"I'm proud of the way they played a good fundamental game. We knew we had to do that to be ready for tonight," Rosewood coach June Hill said. "Everyone played and did a good job. We worked on stuff I knew we would need tonight."

Moore, NJ girls

roll past Chargers

KENLY -- North Johnston's Helen Moore chipped in 16 points as the Lady Panthers ran away with a 71-28 win over Ayden-Grifton in the first round of the Carolina 1-A Confernece tournament.

North Johnston, which finished the regular season tied with Rosewood, now faces the Lady Eagles in the second round at Mount Olive College at 4 p.m. today. The winner will take the conference's second spot going into the NCHSAA playoffs.

Krystal Atkinson added 14 points for the Lady Panthers, who improved to 20-4 on the season. Lakisha McFadden had eight points. North Johnston tallied 52 points in the second and third periods combined.

2004 Class 1-A Carolina Conference Tournament

Girls first round

(at NJHS)

Ayden-Grifton 6 9 6 7 -- 28

North Johnston 14 22 30 5 -- 71

No. 6 AYDEN-GRIFTON

Keke Pugh 9, M. Griffin 8, D. Keys 5, Lurun 4, J. Cox 2.

No. 2 NORTH JOHNSTON (20-4)

Helen Moore 16, Krystal Atkinson 14, Lakisha McFadden 8, Amanda Pope 8, Janna Rogerson 8, Shanice Williams 6, Brandi Brinchek 4, Caroline Hines 3, Brandy Holland 2, Stefanie Norris 2.

Boys

North Johnston

ousts Jaguars

FARMVILLE -- North Johnston guard Jake Lomonaco scored 29 points as the Panthers kept their NCHSAA playoff hopes alive with a 64-54 win at Farmville Central on Wednesday.

After upsetting the third seed, the Panthers (10-14) move on to face second-seeded Spring Creek at Mount Olive College tonight at approximately 8:30 p.m.

The sixth-seed Panthers jumped out to a 13-point lead during the third quarter and held on thanks to the play of Lomonaco, who made 16-of-22 at the line on the game.

Despite the loss, Farmville Central still will participate in the state playoffs. The Carolina Conference has four playoff positions, and the Jaguars currently hold the third spot. That fact would change only if North Johnston or North Duplin wins the conference tournament, coming through as lower seeds.

Farmville Central's Justin Foskey tried to help keep the Jaguars close by scoring 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Brad Holloman added 10 points for the Panthers.

2004 Class 1-A Carolina Conference Tournament

Boys first round

(at Farmville Central HS)

North Johnston 18 13 14 19 -- 64

Farmville Central 15 13 4 22 -- 54

No. 6 NORTH JOHNSTON (10-14)

Brad Holloman 10, Jake Lomonaco 29, Chris Marshall 6, Damien Allen 7, Brandon Sanders 6, Willie Smith 6. TOTALS -- 21 4 18-25 64.

No. 3 FARMVILLE CENTRAL (8-13)

Kendrick Forbes 5, Justin Foskey 20, Ben Adams 2, Adrian Hunter 10, Javious Dixon 9, Roland Blue 2, Tarean Newton 4, William Mitchell 2. TOTALS -- 23 6 2-10 54.

-- Greenville Reflector --