Will Heard shoots a 3-pointer for the visiting Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
With both games going down to the wire in front of a loud, packed house at Harnett Central on Friday night, visiting All American 3-A/4-A Conference and Harnett County rival Triton took a varsity basketball sweep on the Trojans’ Senior Night to wrap up the regular season.
Triton held off a late rally to defeat Harnett Central, 46-39, in the girls game.
“We weathered the storm,” said Triton girls coach Richard Rozier. “I think that was important. Harnett Central has gotten a lot better. I give coach (Chelsey) Cabe credit for that. They are exponentially better than what they were. They have progressively gotten better. I knew we were going to have to be prepared for that and the energy in there is electric. That definitely gave them a spark. But, it’s nice to have A’Shari Watlington, Abby Hood, Tristan Ennis and JaNiah Smith in my back pocket.”
Harnett Central coach Chelsey Cabe was proud of her team’s effort but said a few lapses and turning the ball over were costly.
“I think that we played with a whole lot of heart,” Cabe said. “I still think there were spurts where we took plays off and that’s what really hurt us. That and turnovers. But, I think they came out with a lot of heart. We had a great crowd behind us. The first quarter, that was so much fun to be a part of, so much fun to watch and so much fun to coach. I thought they came out real strong with the right mindset and the right intensity.”
Senior Tristan Ennis had a double-double, with 17 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Hawks (14-6, 8-6 AAC).
“We made an emphasis at the half to get her the ball inside,” Rozier said. “She was so open before the second half and I said, ‘We’ve got to move the ball in that zone and then hit her and make her an important piece in this game.’”
JaNiah Smith had nine points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Abby Hood had nine points and two blocks. A’Shari Watlington had eight points. Unique Cooke had two points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Jakiya Leach had one point. Aubree Bass had two blocks.
Senior Shay Ward had a game-high 19 points to lead the Trojans (1-18, 0-14).
“You don’t get girls that love ball as much as Shay loves ball anymore,” Cabe said. “Shay truly does eat, sleep and breathe it. It’s all she watches, it’s all she talks about, it’s all she does. She loves the game of basketball. To have somebody that has that type of passion as a coach, it’s so nice to see, because that means someone loves it as much as you do. I thought Shay gave a great effort.”
KeErica Snead and Jo’Nese Monroe had seven points apiece. Anniya Dye had four points. TaNira Edwards had two points.
“I think we’ve struggled a little bit with meshing as a team this year,” Cabe said. “But tonight, especially in the first half, you couldn’t tell that. Every girl was playing for each other and all the under classmen were absolutely playing for the seniors.”
Prior to the game, Harnett Central honored six seniors: KeErica Snead, Ivanna Jones, Shay Ward, Katrina Ledbetter, Anniya Dye and Jo’Nese Monroe.
After Harnett Central held a narrow 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, Triton outscored Central 13-8 in the second and 14-7 in the third to hold a 38-27 lead.
With Triton leading 42-30, Edwards scored to start Central on a 7-0 run, with a pair of Ward free throws cutting the lead to just five. But that was as close as the lead would get and Triton held off Central down the stretch.
Triton rallied in the second half to win 56-52 over Harnett Central in the boys game.
“Good battle,” said Triton boys coach T.J. Morrison. “Always a good battle with Harnett Central. Coach (Will) Gage had them prepared. They defended well and kept the game the way they wanted to play. Their kids really fought. We gave up way too many points in the first half and just weren’t competing on the boards and doing the things we needed to do. Glad to win, but I’m not really satisfied. I thought we could have done a better job being a little more poised.”
Harnett Central boys coach Will Gage said the Trojans set the tone in the first half, but Triton was able to control the pace in the second half.
“I thought they all played hard,” Gage said. “I thought we set the tone with our defense in the first half and we got some baskets off of it. And I thought our guys just did an outstanding job looking for each other in the first half. In the second half, when a team’s pressing you, it tends to speed you up. That’s what it’s supposed to do. And we tended not to take as good a shots in the second half. But I think there’s times when we could have just thrown in the towel and it could have been a double-digit deficit. You want to be on the winning side, but I appreciate their effort.”
Junior Will Heard had 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals, junior Nate McKoy had 10 points and eight rebounds and freshman Romello Pegues had 10 points to lead the Hawks (10-13, 5-9).
“Will made some big shots and he defended well,” Morrison said. “Sometimes Will is not our best defender, but tried to make it a habit tonight to get down and defend.”
Quashaun Williams had five points. J.J. Cowan had four points and six rebounds. Sabine Wheeler had four points. Jalen Evans had two points, five rebounds and six assists. James Shaw had two points.
Senior Seven McClain had 18 points and junior Nick Avery had 13 points to lead the Trojans (5-14, 2-12).
Quez Jones had eight points. Johnathan Patterson had six points. Chris Mills had five points. Destin McClean had two points.
Prior to the game, Harnett Central honored eight seniors: Cohen Walker, Quez Jones, Chris Mills, Xavier Bailey, Gerardo Cortez-Martinez, Seven McClain, Destin McClean and Chase Stonerock.
After Central outscored Triton 13-9 in the first quarter and 16-15 in the second to lead 29-24 at halftime, Triton went on a 15-7 run through the third quarter to lead 39-36 heading into the final frame.
“I think we just committed to playing defense and finished a few shots at the rim,” Morrison said. “Defense leads to offense. I always tell them that offense starts with a defensive rebound.”
McClain scored to cut the lead to one at the start of the fourth quarter. But Triton responded with an 8-3 run to push the lead to six. An Avery three-pointer started a 7-3 run to cut the lead back to two. After a McKoy basket pushed the lead back to four, Triton went four-for-six at the free throw line down the stretch to hold off Central.
Harnett Central’s junior varsity boys ended the season with a 62-53 win over Triton. Neither school has a JV girls team this season.
The All-American 3-A/4-A Conference tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Shay Ward scores for the Harnett Central girls on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Anniya Dye scores for the Lady Trojans against Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Abby Hood blocks a shot for the Lady Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Aubree Bass of the Triton girls blocks a shot at Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tristan Ennis scores for the Triton girls in a 46-39 win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Seniors for the Central girls, from left. are Anniya Dye, Katrina Ledbetter, Ivanna Jones, KeErica Snead, Shay Ward and Jo’Nese Monroe.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Harnett Central’s Chris Mills (10) blocks a shot.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Nick Avery shoots a 3-pointer for Harnett Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton’s Nate McKoy scores following an offensive rebound.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Quez Jones gets a basket for host Harnett Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Seven McClain gets a dunk for the Trojans on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
