Dianna Boykin scores for the South Johnston girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
South Johnston was swept in varsity girls and boys basketball games by visiting Quad County 3-A Conference opponent Hunt on Friday night.
Turnovers were costly for South Johnston as the Trojans fell, 52-31, in the girls game.
“With 30 turnovers, you can’t expect to win a game,” said South Johnston girls coach Whitney Williams. “Not much more to say than that. Just couldn’t seem to get it past the top of the key and they broke away with it.”
Lone senior Kennedy Byrd had 12 points to lead the Trojans (5-10, 3-7 QCC).
“She knows she’s got to step up and she continues to step up,” Williams said. “We’ve just got to get everybody else to follow. We’ve got a young team and we only had seven players tonight, so we did what we could with what we have.”
Lannah Price had nine points. Dianna Boykin had six points. Meagan Worley and Brooke Winborne had two points apiece.
Junior Kayla Haley had 18 points, sophomore Ti’Asia Taylor had 14 points and junior Kennedi Smith had 12 points to pace the Warriors (9-7, 5-4).
After Hunt led 8-5 at the end of the first quarter, a pair of three-pointers from Price and Byrd gave South an 11-8 lead early in the second. But Hunt finished the quarter on a 15-1 run to lead 23-12 at halftime.
Hunt outscored South 17-5 in the third quarter. South outscored Hunt 14-12 in the fourth quarter.
A strong start was key for Hunt as South Johnston lost 72-49 in the boys game.
“They were the better team,” said South Johnston boys coach Brody Massengill. “They’re just a good team. There’s a reason they’re ranked in the top five or six in the east. But I was really proud of our second team to come in (in the fourth quarter) and they walked the score back down and they kept fighting. We’ve just got to keep getting better. That’s a good learning lesson for those young guys moving forward, and that’s what it’s like to play a good team. You want to be a good team, you’ve got to go through people like that to do that, and we’re not on that level yet.”
All 10 Trojans scored at least once in the contest.
“That was the first time we’ve have everybody to score in a game, so it’s not all negative,” Massengill said.
Juniors Ryan Hudson and Lucas Layman had seven points apiece to lead South (6-11, 5-4).
Decarrus Poston, Brayden Barefoot and Connor Lee had six points apiece. Chase Norris had five points. Nick Jackson had four points. Eli Price and Ricardo Perez had three points apiece. Jaydn McNeill had two points.
Sophomore Drew Pittman had 25 points and senior Ty’Chaun Clay had 20 points to lead the Warriors (14-2, 8-1).
Hunt outscored South 24-9 in the first quarter, 14-9 in the second and 27-15 in the third. South outscored Hunt 16-7 in the fourth quarter.
Because of a makeup game, South Johnston will face conference opponent East Wake on back-to-back days, traveling to East Wake on Tuesday before returning home to host the Warriors on Wednesday.
“It’s an important week for us next week and we’ve just got to keep grinding,” Massengill said. “We’re still sitting at fourth place in our conference.”
Lannah Price brings the ball up the court for the Lady Trojans.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Meagan Worley scores for the SJ girls against Hunt.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Kennedy Byrd gets a basket for host South Johnston.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Connor Lee scores for the South Johnston boys on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Nick Jackson adds a basket for South Johnston’s boys.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Lucas Layman finishes on offense for the Trojans against Hunt.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Ryan Hudson extends to score for South Johnston.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Decarrus Poston launches a 3-pointer for the host Trojans.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
