Goldsboro boys overwhelm RM Prep

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on December 17, 2014 1:48 PM

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Joe Baker stood under the basket and soaked in the admiration.

Moments before, during an inbound play, Baker shook his defender, leapt into the air and threw down a thundering alley-oop over a much taller Rocky Mount Prep player.

Students flew from the stands to high five him.

Cheerleaders and parents screamed from their seats and his teammates had to be restrained from rushing onto the court. Pandemonium erupted all around Baker as he stood stoically with his arms crossed.

It was that kind of night for Goldsboro.

The Cougars (7-0 overall) dominated from the opening tip off, cruising to an 86-30 victory over Rocky Mount Prep School (0-4) on Tuesday evening. They did so even without key starter Myron Carmon, who hurt his ankle on a drive to the basket early in the first quarter and didn't return.

Despite Carmon's absence, Goldsboro ran its offense effectively and scored with ease.

The Cougars opened up a 30-10 lead in the first quarter, thanks largely in part to senior Tyrique Tyson. Tyson scored 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter and dominated the offensive glass, finishing several second-chance opportunities.

"Coming into the game we told him that we had the size advantage, and we usually don't have that very much," Goldsboro head coach Russell Stephens said. "He knew he had an advantage tonight and he came out big for us. He started off and finished strong. He protected the basket like he always does, and offensively he was strong for us tonight."

Starting guard Rasheen Artis added 18 points for Goldsboro.

With the game put away by halftime, the Cougars had a chance to get some extended looks at their bench. A couple players who took advantage of the opportunity were Nakia Atkins, who had 11 points and Eric Bufkin, who added 8.

"Bufkin played tremendous," Stephens said. "I thought he really played well. Defensively, I thought Atkins came off the bench and gave us good minutes. Those two guys are two of our toughest players.

"You know what you're going to get from them. They're going to play hard every time they come off the bench."

As for Carmon, he was diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain. The decision to keep him out for the rest of the game was precautionary, and Stephens said that he would be at practice today.

Turnovers plagued Rocky Mount Prep the entire game. Goldsboro's press gave the Jaguars fits all night, leading to turnovers and fast break opportunities that blew the game open.

RM Prep head said the loss was disappointing, but not discouraging.

"We've just got to take better care of the basketball, that's it," he said. "My guys and I have talked about it before; if we take care of the basketball, then we can compete with anybody. It was hard to get into a rhythm on offense. Minus the turnovers, I thought we did a pretty good job in the half court."

Goldsboro entertains Southern Wayne on Saturday.