Goldsboro boys take EPC 2-A opener

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 13, 2008 3:18 AM

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The Goldsboro High varsity boys' and girls' basketball teams opened their respective Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference seasons in opposite fashion Friday evening.

Demetrio Irby supplied 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second half as the Cougars turned back nemesis Tarboro 82-69 before a sparse, but vocal turnout. It was Goldsboro's first regular-season triumph over the Vikings since 2006.

The Cougar girls, however, succumbed to second-half misfortune. They managed just one field goal in a 12-minute stretch and dropped a 62-53 decision to the Vikings. Victoria Williams led Goldsboro with 13 points.

"It's good to get off to a good start in conference play," said Goldsboro boys' coach Tod Morgan. "This conference it's going to be tough night in and out, so every win is important. Tarboro is always athletic and they played hard.

"It was a good win for us."

Victorious on the Cougars' home court last season, the Vikings played confident and aggressive throughout the opening half. Neither team owned more than a two-possession advantage as the lead changed hands on 14 occasions.

Goldsboro led 17-15 after one quarter, but couldn't pull away. Tarboro ran a Princeton-style offense which got center Donald Tabron involved in the offense and frustrated the Cougar defense. Tabron converted four consecutive field goals off the spread offense as the Vikings forged a 24-24 tie -- the fifth of the half.

Tabron collected 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second period.

"We weren't doing a good job denying the ball to the cutter in that option-post offense," said Morgan. "The first cutter would cut through off the pass and then he would cut hard behind it, and we weren't jumping out to deny that at all. He got easy opportunities.

"We didn't have an answer for him."

The Cougars led 38-37 at halftime, but the Vikings created a tie at 40-40 on Markel Pettaway's 3-pointer. Goldsboro responded with a 10-0 run that included baskets from Irby, Tavon Murchison, Doshamora Simms, Tim Hobbs and Aric Sinclair.

Tarboro (3-10) pulled within 53-47, but Irby's 3-pointer off Murchison's fifth of eight assists and his layup off a turnover pushed the advantage to 58-47. Murchison added a layup off Murchison's steal and assist to make it 61-49 after three periods of play.

"We got on the boards and that led to pushing the ball offensively," said Morgan of his team's third-quarter surge. "We tried to create an up-tempo (pace) so we could use our athletes in transition. We did a good job of that."

The Vikings climbed with 10 to start the fourth quarter, but could get no closer. Hobbs and Sinclair added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Cougars, while Simms ended up with 10.

Goldsboro's girls raced to a 12-point, first-quarter lead behind the hot shooting of Zeara McDuffie (12 points) and Victoria Williams. The duo combined for nine points off four assists from senior guard Danielle Irby.

Tarboro changed its defensive set and employed a 2-2-1 fullcourt trap which caused numerous turnovers. Tiesha Mercer's 3-pointer as time expired helped the Vikings climb within 16-15 after eight frantic minutes.

The teams battled through five lead changes and four ties before Tarboro entered halftime with a 36-33 lead. Four lead changes and four ties highlighted the third quarter with the Vikings -- again -- holding a three-point lead after 24 minutes of action.

However, the Cougars (4-10) struggled in their transition and halfcourt offenses, and against committed foolish mistakes against the Vikings' pressure. At one point, Goldsboro misfired on 10 consecutive possessions before Tiffany Pearsall converted an offensive rebound to make it 58-50.

"We didn't finish how we started ... attacking the basket and getting the ball in there," said Goldsboro coach Brandy Smith. "The second half, we started forcing some things that wasn't a part of the offense. We didn't run our offense in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't execute."

Boys game

Tarboro 15 22 12 20 -- 69

Goldsboro 17 21 23 21 -- 82

TARBORO (3-10, 0-1)

Jeremy Bellamy 1 0 0-0 2, Juwahn Anderson 3 2 6-8 18, Jamal Farmer 0 0 0-0 0, Markel Pettaway 2 2 0-0 10, Lakevious Battle 2 0 2-2 6, James Calhoun 1 0 0-0 2, Donald Tabron 10 0 2-3 22, Javon Jenkins 2 0 0-0 4, George Blakeney 1 0 3-6 5. TOTALS -- 22 4 13-19 69.

GOLDSBORO (9-6, 1-0)

Keovanta McDuffie 2 0 4-8 8, Donald Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Tavon Murchison 2 0 5-7 9, Cortez Sprangle 0 0 0-0 0, Doshamora Simms 3 0 4-5 10, Demetrio Irby 5 3 2-4 21, Tim Hobbs 6 0 4-6 16, Aric Sinclair 6 0 2-2 14, James Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Carlos Atkinson 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 26 3 21-32 82.

Girls game

Tarboro 15 21 14 12 -- 62

Goldsboro 16 17 14 6 -- 53

TARBORO (11-2, 1-0)

Shanae Thorne 3 0 3-4 9, Keoasha Harrell 6 0 1-3 13, Chandra Hussey 5 0 2-3 12, Tiesha Mercer 5 1 0-0 13, Raven White 1 0 0-0 2, Keyerra Lloyd 2 0 2-2 6, Quanita Johnson 1 0 0-1 2, Delicia White 0 0 1-2 1, Jasmine Woodley 1 0 2-4 4. TOTALS -- 24 1 11-18 62.

GOLDSBORO (4-10, 0-1)

Zeara McDuffie 4 0 4-6 12, Danielle Irby 3 0 3-5 9, Victoria Williams 5 1 0-0 13, Tiffany Pearsall 4 0 1-2 9, Millicent Kornegay 2 0 2-4 6, Johneisha Maye 0 1 1-2 4, Lakiyah Campbell 0 0 0-1 0. TOTALS -- 18 2 11-20 53.