BOYS' BASKETBALL -- N. Lenoir at Goldsboro

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on January 6, 2017 9:59 AM

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When playing Goldsboro, it's best to get your licks in during the first half.

You'll need the cushion, because the second half is when the Cougars roar the loudest. On Thursday night, North Lenoir happened to stare right into the belly of the beast.

Behind the effort of a 51-point second half, Goldsboro stampeded its way to a well-rounded 82-61 victory over North Lenoir in Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference play.

"I thought we saw something in the first half where we were getting easy baseline shots," said Cougars' head coach Russell Stephens. "I think Tyhon McKinzie, (Daryl) Gaddis, also (Jaryan) Hargis were able to get some easy baskets in transition which led to some knock-down shots and easy feeds to the post."

This is the second game in a row in which Goldsboro exploded in the second half. In the Southern Bank/Mount Olive Pickle Winter Classic championship game last Thursday, the Cougars outscored Wayne Country Day 24-7 in the third quarter.

In that game, Goldsboro led WCDS by five at halftime. Thursday's matchup witnessed the Cougars down 35-30 after two quarters.

Coming out of the locker room, the Cougars instantly pounced on the Hawks. The third quarter began with a 20-5 run, which gave Goldsboro a 50-40 lead.

Hargis nailed three 3-pointers during the run.

"I like that (Hargis) can shoot the ball," Stephens said. "As a coach, you always like someone who can put the ball in the basket. And Jaryan is one of those streaky shooters, but he can score putting the ball on the floor, as well."

Goldsboro finished the third quarter with a 25-15 advantage. In the fourth quarter, the margin was 26-12 in the Cougars' favor.

Stephens said at the beginning of the season the team had a few missing players due to injuries. Now the whole group is together and the seniors are leading the way.

"We've talked about being in shape for four quarters and it's starting to pay off for us -- all the running that we're doing in practice," Stephens said. "We're just starting to understand each other a little better on offense."

Hargis led Goldsboro with 20 points and five 3-pointers. Ronnie Tookes recorded 17 points and grabbed six boards. Lshawn Davis paced North Lenoir with 21 points and five rebounds.

Goldsboro has now rattled off four consecutive wins -- all of them by at least eight points.

Stephens said the source of success can be traced back to the December road loss to EW. That game woke the Cougars up. Thanks to the Warriors, all ECC 2-A opponents are now on notice.

"First of all, we never like losing county games," Stephens said. "So you can tip Eastern Wayne's hat for getting us jumpstarted again if you want to, and we'll take that. It's just one of those things where we're starting to understand who we are now."