Southern Wayne boys escape C.B. Aycock

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on December 19, 2014 1:48 PM

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DUDLEY -- With a little under a minute to go and down by five points, Charles B Aycock forward Cameron Kornegay stepped to the free throw line for two shots and a chance to make it a one-possession ball game.

Kornegay took a deep breath and attempted a free throw that hit the back iron, rolled around the rim and popped out.

It's been that kind of a year for the Golden Falcons, who fell short in a 56-52 loss to county and Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference rival Southern Wayne on Thursday evening.

The first half was a low-scoring affair, as both teams failed to get into any sort of rhythm on offense. Aycock (1-12 overall, 0-2 ECC) looked to feed the post early, but Southern Wayne's size advantage down low kept Kornegay and sophomore Damien Darden from getting clean looks.

Darden, starting in place of Jarde Spruill, found his groove eventually and ended up leading the way for the Golden Falcons with 17 points. Spruill didn't play due to flu-like symptoms.

A 11-4 run to start the third quarter cut Southern Wayne's lead to four, but the Saints (4-5, 1-0) responded with a run of their own. Senior Montrell Plummer hit a 3-pointer, grabbed a loose ball and hit another three all within a span of 10 seconds to push the lead back to 10 points.

Plummer ended up with a team-high 18 points, all of which came from beyond the arc.

CBA cut the lead back down to five points on two quick buckets off of inbound steals, but Southern Wayne's Xzavier Pearsall snuck behind the defense and hit an easy layup with 15 seconds left. The Golden Falcons' Bryce Jordan hit free throws when the outcome had been decided.

"It seems to be the same things game after game after game," coach Dave Elmore said. "I say it every game, it's free throws and turnovers. It's missing those easy shots and layups. That's what's frustrating."

Southern Wayne had more than a few chances to put the game away earlier, but foul trouble and not finishing at the rim plagued them all night. While they came out with a win, head coach Dwight Smith wasn't exactly pleased with the effort.

"We were sloppy," Smith said. "We were careless with the ball. We kept trying to make plays that weren't there. We kept trying to force things that weren't there instead of bringing the ball down the court and closing the game."