North Pitt spoils Southern Wayne's season opener

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on November 18, 2015 1:48 PM

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DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne's Bless Thomas stole the ball away from a North Pitt player twice for fast-break runs and layups within the last five minutes of regulation.

The Saints trailed the Panthers by 12 points at the time and eventually dropped their season opener, 76-62, on Tuesday evening.

"He's (Thomas) our motor guy," head coach Dwight Smith said. "We go as he goes. He has all the energy, and we feed off him.

"That's our Bless Thomas."

The Saints fed off of Thomas' energy early and stayed behind the Panthers closely in the first quarter, 18-12. But NP's Daishon Harris possessed an energy as well.

Harris irritated SW's guards in the first quarter by slapping at the ball for steals and driving to the basket. Harris scored five points to lead his team into the second quarter.

Cole Atwood shot a corner 3-pointer. Rakilen Butler and Thoms added eight points for the Saints.

North Pitt's Devonte Pettaway carried his team with 12 points, while teammate Nytrell Chapman had seven points.

The Saints trailed the Panthers at halftime, 49-32.

SW's Diquantia Strong caused a turnover for the Panthers and threw the ball to Josh Graham for an easy layup. The Saints held the Panthers to 16 points in the third quarter, but trailed by 21 as the fourth quarter began.

Harris started the final quarter with more energy than the first. He received a steal from Everett Hinnant, which resulted in a quick layup for the Panthers.

Devion Staten gave his team 12 points, and NP led the Saints, 74-62, with two minutes remaining in the game.

Thomas ended the fourth quarter with six points, but energy ran out.

"We got to improve all the way around," Smith said. "We got to improve (with) taking care of the ball. Take care of the ball and not panicking when pressure get up on us. We want to be the team that's doing the pressuring, but we hit the panick button."

The Saints (0-1 overall) play host to Northern Nash on Thursday.

"We're going to get in the gym and work on some boxing out," Smith said. "We're gonna work on some controlling the ball, and we're gonna shell our defense a little better.

"We're young. This is pretty much our JV team that moved up, and they're not yet accustomed to the speed of the game. They're young right now, but they're gonna dig them out Thursday night."