Quez Jones scores for Harnett Central on Tuesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
A strong second-half performance powered Harnett Central into the championship game of the Bennie Pollock Memorial boys basketball tournament with a 70-34 first-round win over visiting Western Harnett on Tuesday night.
“We tried to say from the beginning that defense would make offense,” said Harnett Central coach Will Gage. “And that nights that we didn’t play, we were not going to look very good. And I didn’t think we looked very good in the first half. We forced a lot of easy shots, we didn’t get back in transition and we just didn’t play very well.
“I thought defense set the tone in the second half and it was not as much of a ‘trading basket’ half as the first half. I thought our guys did a good job when it was a change of possession looking ahead, looking for the open man, which we didn’t do as much in the first half.”
Western Harnett coach Seth Womble said the Eagles struggled with offense and transition defense in the second half.
“Bad offense led to 20 turnovers,” Womble said. “They were able to rebound the ball exceptionally well. They leaked out in transition and we couldn’t get back. Getting away from a lot of the things that we were successful at in the first half. They did a really good job making their halftime adjustments. We played two different ballgames tonight. In the first half we did things better than the second. So, there’s some things we’ve got to work on and tomorrow we’ll go watch some film and try to make some adjustments. I know we’ve got a different opponent, but we’re just worried about us right now and getting better every day.”
Senior Xavier Bailey had 15 points and seven rebounds and senior Seven McClain had 10 points to lead the Trojans (1-0).
Quez Jones had nine points and six steals. Nick Avery had seven points and six rebounds. Cohen Walker had seven points. Chris Mills had six points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Xavier Harris had five points and seven rebounds. Gerardo Cortez-Martinez had five points. Destin McClean had three points. Jahlil Surles had two points. Johnathan Patterson had one point.
Gage was pleased to see contributions from all 13 players on the roster.
“Everybody that got in there played hard,” Gage said. “And I thought that everybody that got in there was looking for each other and everybody was cheering for each other. That’s a good thing. How we click together is going to be a big factor, because when we get into games where possessions really matter, you’ve just got to know where everybody is on both ends.”
Freshman Fred Belk had eight points and senior Christian Fielden had seven points to lead the Eagles (0-1).
Carlito Maldonado had six points. Josiah Smith had five points. Donavan Thomas had four points. Jaden Maynard had two points. Quentiss Spruiell had one point.
Womble said with just four returners from last season, Western is essentially a brand new team this season.
“We’ve got a young team,” Womble said. “We’ve got Ian (Bristow) and Christian back. They’re going to be key for us. Josiah’s a guy that played up (from JV) a little bit last year for us, so he’s coming back. Carlito is back with us now. And other than that, we’ve got a lot of guys that are new to the program or didn’t get a lot of experience last year. So, we’re counting on us getting better every day. We expect that we’ll make some mistakes, and that’s fine. Let’s learn from those mistakes and get better.”
The first half was closely contested, with Central holding a 22-21 lead at halftime. But the Trojans dominated the second half, outscoring the Eagles 26-7 in the third quarter and 22-6 in the fourth.
Western Harnett will face Triton in the boys consolation game at 5:00 p.m. and Harnett Central will meet Overhills in the championship game at 8:00 on Wednesday.
One night after being unable to rally from a hot start by Triton, it was a hot start by Overhills that was the key to a 60-20 win over host Harnett Central in the girls consolation game.
“It was a very big difference,” said Overhills coach Nicholas Lewis. “We talked about that in shootaround today, about starting early and even in the game last night we talked about things like better starts and controlling the little things, like making wide-open layups and free throws and just having all-out energy. I think we started out great with that tonight.”
Harnett Central coach Chelsey Cabe said the Trojans are currently experiencing some growing pains.
“I’d like to say that we’re young, but if you look at our roster, we still have a decent amount of seniors,” Cabe said. “But as far as our starting five, we’re really young. Right now, we’re just lacking a lot of basketball IQ in general. Just things that you might take for granted. It’s just going to take some time to learn and develop those things.”
Sophomore Eva McRae had 14 points, freshman Morgan Williams had 11 points and senior Tyra Lee had 10 points to lead the Jaguars (1-1).
“(McRae and Williams) are two very special people in the program,” Lewis said. “Eva kind of got her feet wet last year in a little role. Now she’s taking on a much bigger role. Then you’ve got Morgan who’s just so dynamic and aggressive and a head-up point guard who’s looking to attack all the time. Really happy to have those two, but I will say an unsung hero has been Sheterra Paige. Her stats won’t reflect it, but she has everything clicking for us. Really love having all three of them in the program.”
Lariya Hicks had eight points. Saniya Samuel had seven points. Sadyia Davis had three points. Sheterra Paige, Lainey Beech and Kimora Lee had two points apiece. Aaniyah Seymore had one point.
Lewis was pleased to have all 15 players on the roster get involved in a game so early in the season.
“We had a goal tonight of getting out hot early and getting a big lead so we could get everybody in,” Lewis said. “We had a lot of girls who skipped out on last year because of COVID. Just to get them out on the floor and against competition other than us. That was the goal and they accomplished that tonight and I’m really proud of them.”
Senior Shay Ward had six points and senior KeErica Snead and sophomore Sondra Berry had five points apiece to lead the Trojans (0-2). Zoniya Dowd and JoNese Monroe also had two points apiece.
“This team is not a spot shooting team,” Cabe said. “The only way we can be successful is to have strong defensive intensity. And if we can’t cause people to have turnovers and score that way, we’re not going to be successful. We have to defensively cause people not to get to the other end of the floor. That’s the only way we’re going to have a strong offense, either.”
Overhills outscored Central in all four quarters: 17-4 in the first quarter, 17-5 in the second, 18-9 in the third and 8-2 in the fourth.
After the Thanksgiving break Overhills is at home against Cape Fear (0-1) on Monday and Harnett Central is at Seaforth (0-1) on Tuesday.
Christian Fielden of Western Harnett drives for a lay-up.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Josiah Smith puts up a 3-pointer for the visiting Eagles.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Seven McClain of Harnett Central shoots a three.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Cohen Walker scores for the Trojans in a Pollock semifinal win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Carlito Maldonado (right) blocks a shot for Wesetern Harnett.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Xavier Bailey of Harnett Central rejects a Western shot attempt.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Nyasia McKinnon of the Overhills girls defends with a blocked shot.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Morgan Williams brings the ball up the floor for the Overhills girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
JoNese Monroe scores for host Harnett Central on Tuesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Zoniya Dowd scores a basket for Harnett Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tyra Lee scores a basket for the Overhills girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Sondra Berry of Harnett Central blocks a shot by Overhills.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Lainey Beech gets a basket for the Lady Jaguars.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas).
