Eastern Wayne finishes off Firebirds

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 4, 2007 2:31 PM

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Another second-half meltdown?

The backcourt tandem of Lamar Davis and Darryl Cowan made sure it didn't happen this time. Cowan pumped in a team-high 19 points and Davis spearheaded a back-breaking, third-quarter run as Eastern Wayne hammered Southern Nash 77-50 on Wednesday evening.

The Warriors (2-8) snapped a five-game skid and recorded their largest margin of victory this season.

Alyse Hall's conventional three-point play snapped a fourth-quarter tie and sparked Southern Nash to a come-from-behind, 49-45 triumph in the girls' contest. Hall poured in a game-high 26 points for the Ladybirds, who departed 8-4 overall.

Cowan, a University of Richmond signee reached double figures for the ninth time in 10 outings, but seemed more proud that the Warriors played as a team for 32 minutes.

"We played together and played good defense," said Cowan. "We were focused coming in tonight. We always do good in the first three quarters, but always lose the lead in the fourth quarter. Our goal was to keep it (the lead) the whole game."

Maybe those third- and fourth-quarter collapses, due to losing focus and intensity, are behind them now. The Warriors certainly didn't flinch when the Firebirds trimmed a double-digit deficit to 38-32 midway through the third quarter.

Cowan and Davis continued to penetrate Southern Nash's zone defense, drew defenders away from the basket and quickly boosted the Warriors' advantage to 48-33 within a two-minute stretch. Cowan and Davis combined for six points and three assists, while 6-foot-3 forward Will White drained a pair of layups during the 10-1 run.

"Our kids responded real well to their run," said Eastern Wayne coach Marvin Bowman. "We attacked the basket and from there we got a run going. I have to give our big men credit for slipping their defenders when our guards penetrated, and that's something we've talked about.

"They made themselves available for the pass, didn't sit back and our guards found them."

Eastern Wayne led 52-40 after three quarters and slowly extended its lead in the final eight minutes of play. All 10 Warriors scratched in the scoring column and helped eclipse previous season highs of points scored (69) and margin of victory (21) established nearly a month ago against North Lenoir.

The Warriors recorded 16 assists and 13 steals as a team.

"I've seen us play three good quarters and maybe 30 minutes of good basketball, but not 32 so I was real pleased with that," said Bowman. "Everybody played well. The guys who came off the bench made contributions, so I was real pleased with our effort."

Eastern Wayne's girls got off to a rousing start and erupted for 19 first-quarter points.

Six-foot-2 junior center Brittani Billups dominated the paint and scored eight points, while Eboni Reid canned a pair of layups in transition. Zhanea Charles provided two offensive putbacks and caused havoc defensively with four steals.

Yasmine Washington, the lone senior on the Warriors' roster, dished out four of her game-high seven assists during that stretch. Eastern Wayne led 19-11 and eventually grabbed a 10-point lead twice in the opening half.

But the Warriors (3-7) couldn't sustain any offensive flow from that point. They converted just six possessions in the second and third quarters combined, and finally saw their 10-point advantage evaporate in the fourth period.

"Southern Nash did a good job of figuring out our halfcourt press and they started breaking it, so we didn't get as many easy baskets as we did the first quarter," said Eastern Wayne coach Brent Holland.

The Ladybirds tied the game at 31-31, 35-35 and 37-37 until Hall converted her three-point play with 4:39 remaining in regulation. Hall's offensive putback and free throw ignited an 8-0 run that the Warriors couldn't answer on their offensive end.

Holland lamented his team's decision making as the seconds dwindled away. Eastern Wayne committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, including two in transition, that could have kept it within striking distance.

"Our decision making wasn't very good at times," said Holland. "But the decision making will become better down the road. That was a good team and all of our non-conference games have prepared us for the Eastern Carolina Conference.

"I thought we played hard and I thought we played well."

Billups tallied a team-high 16 points and swatted away seven Ladybird shots. Reid notched seven points, while Washington and Charles each contributed six points.

Eastern Wayne entertains archrival Southern Wayne in the ECC opener for both teams on Friday.

Boys game

So. Nash 12 7 21 10 -- 50

E. Wayne 16 14 22 25 -- 77

SOUTHERN NASH

Sterling Leonard 2 0 2-5 6, Tyler Turner 1 0 0-0 2, Tim Braithwaite 0 0 2-2 2, Micah Sharon 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Lucas 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Howard 1 0 2-5 4, Marcus Howard 5 0 5-6 15, Brian Tabron 10 0 1-1 21. TOTALS -- 19 0 12-18 50.

EASTERN WAYNE (2-8)

Lamar Davis 3 0 3-6 9, D.J. Cowan 7 0 5-8 19, Damiyon Whisenhunt 2 1 0-0 7, Jeneiri Cyrus 2 0 0-0 4, Darren Bennett 2 0 1-1 5, Jaquivas Williams 1 0 1-4 3, Darian Cahill 3 0 2-2 8, Darius Wilder 0 1 2-2 5, Will White 3 0 2-3 8, Jereme Thomas 1 1 4-4 9. TOTALS -- 24 3 20-30 77.

Girls game

So. Nash 11 9 13 16 -- 49

E. Wayne 19 6 6 14 -- 45

SOUTHERN NASH (8-4)

Denise Smith 4 1 0-0 11, Jessica Battle 0 0 0-0 0, Valesha Brown 0 0 0-2 0, Alyse Hall 11 0 4-9 26, Lavaia Hinnant 1 0 0-0 2, Erin Grady 0 0 0-0 0, Brittany Wiggins 0 0 0-0 0, Shante Neal 2 1 3-4 10. TOTALS -- 18 2 7-15 49.

EASTERN WAYNE (3-7)

Noelle Kelly 1 0 0-0 2, Jasmine Middleton 0 0 0-0 0, Yasmine Washington 3 0 0-0 6, Eboni Reid 2 1 0-3 7, Danielle Daniels 0 1 0-0 3, Tiara McIntyre 1 1 0-0 5, Brittani Billups 8 0 0-0 16, Zhanea Charles 3 0 0-0 6. TOTALS -- 18 3 0-3 45.