Goldsboro girls suffer tough Classic defeat

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 28, 2005 2:13 PM

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A winnable game, which ended in disappointing fashion, just might prove valuable for the Goldsboro women's basketball team.

Veteran Cougar coach Gladys McClary reminded her squad of the little things, particularly fundamentals, that help determine the outcome of a tightly-contested game during practice Monday afternoon. But, somewhere along the line, the players forgot their lesson.

Goldsboro failed to apply the knowledge McClary offered and suffered the consequences -- an agonizing 34-32 loss to East Wake in the 2005 Cougar Classic on Tuesday evening. The Cougars, who had their season-best four-game win streak snapped, face Knightdale at 6 p.m. today.

East Wake, which claimed just its third road win of the season, opposes Durham School of the Arts at 4 p.m. today. DSA, of the Class 1-A Tar-Roanoke Athletic Conference, dropped a 52-43 decision to Knightdale.

"I told them in the locker room that the only thing that bothers me about this loss is that we blew it in every area that we worked on yesterday in practice," said McClary. "That lets me know we're on track, but I told them they have to pay attention. If we don't pay attention, it's going to cost us the game."

McClary's concerns surfaced during the second quarter.

The Cougars (7-4) allowed the Warriors' outside shooters to get open looks at the basket, which resulted in two uncontested 3-pointers -- one each by Melanie Bennett and Shanique Pittman.

East Wake kept the momentum and eventually built a 29-21 lead after three quarters of play.

"Little things throughout the game ... errors that we made changed the momentum," said McClary. "We worked on getting out (to guard shooters) and we didn't get our hands up. We didn't challenge or rotate on defense and missed assignments.

"That really cost us."

Despite its troubles on both ends of the court, Goldsboro threatened to hand East Wake its fourth road loss of the season. Angel Roberts converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull the Cougars within 31-28.

However, McClary's squad would score just three points on its final 10 possessions of the game. Down 31-30 after Danielle Irby's free throw, Goldsboro had three chances to tally the go-ahead basket. But the Cougars committed two turnovers and East Wake grabbed a 34-30 lead as time slowly ticked away.

"We played good defense, got the ball down the floor and we let it go (out of bounds) off our hands," said McClary.

Chevoya Jackson's layup closed the gap to 34-32 with less than a minute remaining. East Wake held possession for the final 52.8 seconds as Goldsboro was forced to foul, but could never put the Warriors on the free throw line.

Jackson finished with 18 points.

"It was a hardfought game and yes, we should have won," said a disappointed McClary. "The girls feel like they should have won. If they learn a valuable lesson ..."

Knightdale (5-7) and DSA traded significant first-half runs in the Classic opener.

The Knights seized the early momentum and built a 15-4 lead early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs, behind Abby Harmon's 3-point shooting, uncorked a 16-0 run and pulled ahead 28-20 at halftime.

Knightdale applied a full-court defense to start the third quarter and pressured DSA into three quick turnovers. The miscues fueled an 11-2 run that gave the Knights a 31-30 advantage -- a lead they would never relinquish.

The Bulldogs (3-9) climbed within 45-40 on Harmon's fourth 3-pointer of the game, but could get no closer. Harmon and Jessica Peaks each tallied 14 points for DSA.

Ebony Jenkins led three Knightdale players in double figures with 14 points. Courtney Reid added 12. Bianca Parker provided 10, including nine in the second half.

Game 2

East Wake 6 12 11 5 -- 34

Goldsboro 11 2 8 11 -- 32

EAST WAKE (4-7)

Sharnell Grant 0 0 0-0 0, Jasmine Pearce 0 0 0-0 0, Courtney Bolton 2 0 0-1 4, Ceiarra Combs 0 0 2-2 2, Melanie Bennett 2 1 0-1 7, Shanae Winston 1 0 2-2 4, Shanique Pittman 1 4 0-0 14, Angela Brown 1 0 1-5 3. TOTALS -- 7 5 5-11 34.

GOLDSBORO (7-4)

Angel Roberts 1 0 2-3 4, Chevoya Jackson 5 2 2-4 18, Helga Bryant 1 0 2-2 4, Kianna Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Tiffany Burden 0 0 1-2 1, Danielle Irby 1 0 1-3 3. TOTALS -- 9 2 8-14 32.

Three-point goals -- Goldsboro 2 (Jackson 2), E. Wake 5 (Pittman 4, Bennett). Turnovers -- Goldsboro 12, E. Wake 21. Total fouls -- Goldsboro 15, E. Wake 12. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.

Game 1

DSA 4 24 5 10 -- 43

Knightdale 13 7 15 17 -- 52

DURHAM SCHOOL OF ARTS (3-9)

Megan Kerns 1 0 2-4 5, Natisha Hall 1 0 0-2 2, Jessica Peaks 6 0 2-4 14, Abby Harmon 1 4 0-0 14, Jhnea Turner 3 0 2-4 8, Princess Bethea 0 0 1-2 1, Macon Harmon 0 0 0-0 0. TOTALS -- 12 4 7-17 43.

KNIGHTDALE (5-7)

Ebony Jenkins 1 3 3-10 14, Ashe Holmes 0 0 0-2 0, Courtney Reid 4 0 4-5 12, Nadia Marriott 3 1 0-0 9, Amanda Dewberry 1 0 5-8 7, Bianca Parker 4 0 2-4 10. TOTALS -- 13 4 14-29 52.