GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Princeton clinches Carolina 1A crown outright

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on February 10, 2017 10:00 AM

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PRINCETON -- All Paula Wooten needs is a year, and she'll get you a conference title.

She did it in 1987 in her first year as Princeton's girls' basketball coach. Thirty years later -- in her second stint as varsity coach -- the process has repeated itself.

With a 39-31 victory over rival Rosewood on Thursday night, the Bulldogs clinched sole possession of the Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season title and automatic bid to the state playoffs.

"I've coached some of them in volleyball, and I've had some of them in class," said Wooten on her familiarity with the players. "I've been around. I've been in Princeton all my life. I've never coached anywhere else. And I think that helped a whole lot (this season)."

Both teams appeared sluggish to begin the game, but Princeton took control in the second quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 10-3 in the stanza.

Rosewood's first points of the period didn't come until Rylee Myers knocked in one free throw with 40.8 seconds remaining. Princeton forced the Eagles into eight turnovers in the first half.

A significant blow to Rosewood's offense was the absence of leading scorer Braylee Butts, who missed most of the second quarter due to foul trouble.

"The foul situation can't be one-sided, and I have a problem with that," said Rosewood head coach Tee Wooten. "It's tough to do anything when the foul situation is one-sided."

The Eagles cut the score to 31-24 by the end of the third quarter. But Princeton's Jordan Benson quickly silenced Rosewood's momentum with a 3-pointer to open the final stanza.

Defensively, Wooten said the main objective was zeroing in on Payton Lane and Butts -- who account for 12.1 and 17.9 points per game, respectively. Lane was held to seven points, while Butts managed just 11.

"I knew that if we could stop their two-leading scorers, then we'd have a great chance to win," Wooten said. "My triangle girls in the zone did a good job, too, as far as helping out when they drove."

Princeton's Jazmaine McCain recorded 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Benson added 10 points, as well.

Wooten said the team now has its eyes set on a tournament title, but will do so by taking one game at a time. The veteran coach added that as long as her girls are improving each game, everything else will fall in line.

"Well you always set a goal to go undefeated, of course," Wooten said. "And then you set the goal to win the conference championship. It's not something I harp on all the time. I just harp on working to get better. I've always felt if you work and get better, it's going to show in your record."