Kaylee Creech shoots a 3-pointer for South Johnston’s girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
South Johnston won a pair of varsity basketball games against visiting Western Harnett on Tuesday night.
One week after Western Harnett girls took their first win of the season at home against South Johnston, the Trojans avenged the loss by winning a 53-14 rout over the Eagles.
“Our shots were falling tonight,” said South Johnston girls coach Whitney Williams. “Our girls worked really hard in practice this week, mainly on shooting and then putting the offense together. Our plays definitely came together much more tonight. We were able to handle their pressure much more tonight than we were last week.”
Western Harnett girls coach Matthew Smith said he feels like his team is still making improvements in spite of a lack of offensive output.
“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” Smith said. “Offensively, we were not good. Last two games, we have not been good offensively. The girls are really trying. We’re really trying to coach them up and they’re very coachable. I just told them in the locker room that, granted we lost and I hate losing, I feel like we made tiny steps and tiny steps is all we’re going to be able to do right now. It’s just what it is. And I told them I wouldn’t trade any of them for anybody on any other team in our conference right now.”
Junior Janay McDonald had 12 points to pace the Trojans (3-3), 10 of which came during the second quarter.
McKinley Sills had nine points. Diamond Judkins, who was out with an illness when South played at Western, and Kaylee Creech had eight points apiece. Nikki Lee had seven points. Kennedy Byrd had three points. Katon Blackmon, Jenna Brown and Madison Cole had two points apiece.
“Everybody definitely chipped in,” Williams said. “In the past games, even games we’ve won, it’s been one or two with 10 or 12 points. To finally get everybody involved, in the game and scoring, it feels good, not only for me, but for them.”
Williams said the inside play of Sills was a big factor for the Trojans.
“She definitely made a difference on the boards,” Williams said. “Rebounding-wise, she was about to get in there and get that second chance shot.”
Junior Makyia Mackey had six points to lead the Eagles (1-7), Makayla Bailey, Jaiden Stratton and Emonni Barber had two points apiece and Savana Johnson and Morgan McInnis had one point apiece.
South outscored Western in all four quarters: 12-6 in the first, 16-3 in the second and 7-3 in the third and 18-2 in the fourth.
South Johnston recorded a season sweep over Western Harnett with a 58-43 win in the boys game.
“We started out good again,” said South Johnston boys coach Brody Massengill. “Good starts always help. We got a lot of foul trouble early and had to play some lineups we hadn’t been playing. But we did our jobs. When we didn’t have it very much, I feel like we still got it done. We made enough plays. I thought we rebounded fairly well. We held another team under 50 points, so that’s something we can hang our hat on.”
Western Harnett boys coach Seth Womble said Western had trouble weathering the scoring runs the Trojans went on and had trouble with South’s defensive adjustments.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Womble said. “We’ve got to withstand them better. They switched up something they did on defense and we’re not in the flow of the game properly. Our intensity dropped. We didn’t notice the traps. We weren’t in the correct spots. We’ve got to be able to see what they’re doing defensively, get in the right set and call it out before turnovers. The score balloons and we’ve got a big deficit to overcome.”
Senior C.J. Ray led the Trojans (7-0) with 20 points.
Thomas Dees, Jeremiah McLean and Colby Norris had eight points apiece. Dylan Bates had seven points. Jonathan Watts had four points. Cole Winborne had two points. David Carter had one point.
With South dealing with some foul trouble during the contest, Massengill was pleased with the play of Bates and Watts off of the bench.
“Dylan brings in such energy off the bench,” Massengill said. “He’s like a little sparkplug when he comes off. And Watts is just tough. He got us a bucket on a little lob over those guys and he rebounded well when he was in there.”
Sophomore Steven Lassiter had 17 points to lead the Eagles (1-7).
“We’re definitely inside-out and Steven is our inside presence,” Womble said. “So, kind of as he goes, we go.”
Wesley Lassiter had nine points. Tyrese Jones had seven points. Christian Dantzler had six points. Deamonte Rankin and Trell Chalmers had two points apiece.
South outscored Western 14-10 in the first quarter, 17-10 in the second and 13-9 in the third. Both teams scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“Seth kept those guys playing hard,” Massengill said. “It was like they figured out their secondary break toward the end of the game and they looked better. They started making some shots and getting some open looks. I think his group’s going to keep getting better.”
South Johnston is at Harnett Central on Thursday night and Western Harnett is at Northwood on Friday night.
Janay McDonald shoots from beyond the arc for the Lady Trojans.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
South Johnston’s McKinley Sills (34) blocks a shot on Tuesday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Paige Toler secures a rebound for South Johnston’s girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jaiden Stratten scores for Western Harnett at South.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Diamond Judkins scores in South’s varsity girls victory.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jeremiah McLean dunks for South Johnston.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Thomas Dees (0) draws a charge for the Trojans.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
The South bench reacts to a charge drawn by Thomas Dees.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Steven Lassiter gets a basket for visiting Western Harnett.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tyrese Jones hits a floater for Western Harnett.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
C.J. Ray goes up to put down a dunk for the Trojans.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
