Tigers get key hustle plays in 4th quarter

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 11, 2014 1:48 PM

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WARSAW -- Loose balls don't appear in the boxscore.

But two mad scrambles proved pivotal during James Kenan's 76-65 conquest of Carolina 1-A Conference foe Rosewood inside Harmon Gymnasium on Monday evening.

Each resulted in a three-point play and helped the Tigers (13-4 overall, 9-2 Carolina) remain in contention for the regular-season championship. James Kenan joined first-year member Neuse Charter atop the conference standings.

The Eagles (6-13) dropped to 5-6 in the league.

"We just talked about that (loose balls) in the locker room, which as a matter of fact, was a point of emphasis before the game," RHS head coach Daniel Mitchell said. "I felt like whoever got those was going to have an advantage. When you're playing a team quicker than you are, when you lean down to pick the ball up instead of diving on the floor, that's usually not going to turn out good for us."

It turned out good for the Tigers.

James Kenan employed its pressure defense and forced a turnover near midcourt. Nick Taylor picked up the loose ball and eventuall converted a traditional three-point play.

Less than 10 seconds later, Taylor stole the ball near midcourt and dished off to TJ Fullwood, who kissed a layup off the glass. The 6-foot-4 Taylor posted a double-double -- 15 points, 10 rebounds.

The turnovers helped the Tigers build a 62-52 advantage with 6:09 to play in the game.

"Taylor was big," JK head coach Brad Lloyd said. "He's gotten so much stronger in the paint, if he continues to work there's no telling how much better he can be. He plays great defensively.

"If he can be a scorer for us, he's really going to help us."

Rosewood trimmed the deficit to six points on two occasions, but couldn't get the key defensive stop. Meanwhile, the Tigers found the right matchups defensively and held the Eagles to just four points in the final three minutes.

James Kenan sealed the outcome with a 9 for 12 effort at the free throw line in the final period. The Tigers entered the game hitting just over 50 percent from the stripe as a team.

"Not getting the stops we needed really affected us on the offensive end as well," Mitchell said. "The difference was we turned the ball over too many times. We've still got three games and they've got three big games left, there's still a lot that can happen.

"I know that we need to finish the season out strong."

Dennis Mitchell paced the Eagles with a double-double -- a game-high 27 points and 15 rebounds. Zack Barnes chipped in 17 points. Jon Hair supplied 11 points.