Aycock girls upend Eastern Wayne

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 15, 2014 11:13 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- The first signature win of Ryan Wells' tenure at Charles B. Aycock could not have come at a better time.

The Golden Falcons watched a 16-point lead disappear before rallying for a 47-44 victory over Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference rival Eastern Wayne on Saturday evening.

The victory was just Aycock's second in ECC play this season and gives it some much-needed momentum going into next week's ECC tournament.

"With the season that we've had, which has been disappointing, and for the girls to come out and continue to work hard and play their hearts out in every game, these are the results that you get," Wells said. "This is huge going into the conference tournament for next week and going into the offseason."

Myleah Jones led Aycock with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Courtney Warner added 10 points.

The Golden Falcons used their full-court press along with an aggressive 1-3-1 zone to disrupt the Warriors' offense. Aycock also dictated the tempo and took away Eastern Wayne's preference to push the pace.

The Warriors committed 20 turnovers.

Jasmine Covington was the lone Eastern Wayne player in double figures with 26 points.

"We've been waiting for this press and we threw it in," Wells said. "These are faster girls in a faster league now and we made the adjustment, and it's starting to work out for us. Right now for us, a low scoring game is in our favor. We controlled the ball and I thought the girls handled the ball in the half court well not to turn it over."

Jones was active all night on the backboards and her willingness to rebound led to plenty of second-chance opportunities for the Golden Falcons. Aycock (6-17, 2-10 ECC) scored eight of the final 12 points of the second quarter and led 23-17 at halftime.

"I feel like we kept the intensity up a lot tonight," Jones said. "I like being a leader not with my mouth, but by example and it really showed. We've been really hungry for a win like this because it's been a rough season."

The Golden Falcons found their rhythm offensively in the third quarter. Jones sank one of two free throws to cap a 13-3 run that gave Aycock its largest lead at 36-20.

Eastern Wayne chipped away at the deficit and claimed its first lead, 40-39, on Covington's layup that capped a 22-3 run.

The Golden Falcons displayed poise down the stretch and converted on critical offensive possessions. Jones and Madison Wildman scored on back-to-back trips down the floor and Taylor Daniels added a jump shot.

Covington's potential game-tying 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.