NJ girls clinch second seed

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on February 20, 2004 1:57 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- A simple postseason draw of a number out of a hat was all that separated Rosewood and North Johnston's girls during the Class 1-A Carolina Conference regular season.

North Johnston's girls (21-4) drew the two-seed and used consistent overall play to maintain that spot with a 50-35 win over the Lady Eagles. The Lady Panthers now have a first-round bye and a second-round home game when the N.C. High School Athletic Association state playoffs begin next week.

Helen Moore paced North Johnston with 18 points, including 10 in the first period. Lakisha McFadden added 11 points, scoring 10 in the second.

Rosewood (17-5), who never seemed to get on track offensively Thursday, now takes the third seed and will open the state playoffs against the Coastal Plains Conference's third seed at the Eagles Nest next Monday.

"I told them we have one more chance, because now if you lose you are out," Rosewood coach June Hill said. "We need to get back that fire and intensity we had at the first of the season."

Spring Creek's Shondalyn Rogers turned in another solid performance with 24 points, but Farmville Central, ranked second in the ihigh.com coaches/media poll, used a 45-point first half to claim a 66-45 win over the Lady Gators in the second semifinal tilt.

Spring Creek (11-15), who advanced to the conference tournament semifinals for the first time in school history, will travel to take on the Super-Six Conference's third seed in the first round of the state playoffs on Monday.

"Once they (Farmville) got that lead like that, it was hard to come back. Each game against Farmville, we keep improving," Spring Creek coach Cassandra Tyson said. "I think we are prepared going into the playoffs, being that we have already played some of the Super-Six teams."

Spring Creek and Farmville (25-1) stood tied at 6-6 in the first period before the Lady Jags uncorked a 27-3 run that stretched into the second period.

Sophomore Megan Zullo led Farmville with 21 points in the win, while Ashley Harris dropped in 18 points.

Both Rosewood and North Johnston have hindered opposing offenses with pressure, backcourt defense through most of the season. However, the Eagles' difficulty on Thursday had more to do with inefficiency in their halfcourt sets.

Rosewood opened the second period with five straight turnovers as McFadden capitalized with back-to-back jumpers to push North Johnston's lead to 23-10 at the four minute mark. McFadden's second three of the period pushed the margin to 36-12 late in the half as the Eagles never recovered.

"This is probably the worst ball game we've played all year. It wasn't necessarily the press that stopped us, it was more ourselves that stopped us," Hill said. "Our defense played pretty good, but we never executed our offense."

Rosewood's Jennifer Boren, Jessica Hill and Shanda White, still hindered by a knee injury, scored eight points each.

The Lady Jags take on North Johnston, curently ranked sixth in the latest ihigh.com 1-A poll in the championship game at College Hall at 6 p.m. tonight.

"We have to try to contain (Megan) Zullo, not let them get easy baskets and make them work for some shots," North Johnston coach David Bagwell said.

2004 Class 1-A Carolina Conference Tournament

(at Mount Olive College)

Girls Semifinal No. 1

Rosewood 7 8 6 14 -- 35

North Johnston 14 16 12 8 -- 50

No. 3 ROSEWOOD (17-5)

Jennifer Boren 4 0 0-0 8, Jessica Hill 4 0 0-1 8, Shanda White 3 0 2-4 8, Latita Wade 3 0 1-3 7, Clare Narron 1 0 1-2 3, Hannah Aycock 0 0 1-2 1. TOTALS -- 15 0 5-12 35.

No. 2 NORTH JOHNSTON (21-4)

Helen Moore 8 0 2-4 18, Lakisha McFadden 2 2 1-2 11, Janna Rogerson 4 0 0-0 8, Krystal Atkinson 2 0 3-4 7, Amanda Pope 1 0 0-0 2, Stephanie Norris 1 0 0-0 2, Brandi Brinchek 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 18 2 8-12 50.

Three-point baskets -- North Johnston 2 (McFadden 2). Turnovers -- Rosewood 26, North Johnston 21. Total fouls -- North Johnston 15, Rosewood 11. Fouled out -- Narron. Technicals -- none.

Girls Semifinal No. 2

Spring Creek 9 12 10 14 -- 45

Farmville Cent. 19 25 11 10 -- 66

No. 4 SPRING CREEK (11-15)

Shondalyn Rogers 9 2 0-0 24, Shantell Patterson 3 0 0-0 6, Troia Morgan 0 2 0-0 6, Yolanda Lawson 2 0 0-0 4, Austi Joyner 0 1 0-0 3, Candace Phillips 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 15 5 0-0 45.

No. 1 FARMVILLE CENTRAL (25-1)

Megan Zullo 6 3 0-0 21, Ashley Harris 8 0 2-2 18, Nevada Joyner 4 0 0-0 8, Nicole Hamill 4 0 0-0 8, Kim Zullo 3 0 0-0 6, Natsuki Amano 0 1 0-0 3. TOTALS -- 25 4 2-2 66.

Three-point baskets -- Spring Creek 5 (Rogers 2, Morgan 2, Joyner), Farmville Central 4 (M. Zullo 3, Amano). Turnovers -- Spring Creek 15, Farmville Central 6. Total fouls -- Spring Creek 1, Farmville Central 1. Fouled out -- none. Technicals -- none.