High school basketball: Rams hang on for sweep of Chargers

LITTLEFIELD — The emergence of Greene Central’s Jalin Sutton couldn’t have come at a much better time for the Rams on Feb. 2.

His 22 points and 10 rebounds — including six consecutive points late in the fourth quarter — were crucial in helping Greene Central hold off pesky Ayden-Grifton 76-67 in an Eastern Plains 2A Conference clash at Bob Murphrey Gymnasium.

Greene Central’s girls completed the varsity sweep with a 48-21 victory over the Chargers.

Halfway through the third period of the boys’ game, Greene Central (10-11, 5-4 EPC) was ahead 56-41 before a 14-4 run over a span of 2:32 by Ayden-Grifton cut the Rams’ lead to four with 1:33 still remaining in the quarter.

With 3:18 to play in the game, the Chargers’ Hatteras Jenkins was on the free-throw line to shoot two with his team trailing 65-63. He made the first but missed the second, leaving Greene Central clinging to a one-point advantage.

Enter Sutton, who got a basket underneath, then Sam Avent found him for another basket, then was fouled and hit two free throws to put the Rams safely back ahead 71-64 with 1:11 remaining.

Jenkins drained a 3-pointer to make the score 71-67, but the Chargers would get no closer. Greene Central’s DJ Williams hit his first free throw with 34.5 seconds to go, but while he missed the second, teammate Mez Coppedge came up with the rebound. Five seconds later, the Rams’ Mike Suggs sank two free throws to put the Rams safely ahead.

In addition to Sutton’s key buckets down the stretch, he also pulled down six rebounds in the final period.

“Jalin was key to us all night long,” Greene Central coach Blue Edwards said. “He got off to a good start rebounding and finishing strong around the basket. So he finished up the way he started — strong around the basket, making free throws, getting putbacks for us. Hopefully, that will instill even more confidence in him. Now the players will have more confidence in him.

“Huge night for him. I’m proud of him because he works extremely hard.”

Another highlight for Edwards was Greene Central’s first half. The Rams scored 28 points in the first quarter en route to a 47-36 halftime lead.

“I thought in the first half — and I told them — this is probably the best basketball we’ve played in any game in terms of guys getting out running, looking for one another and finishing, then getting back and playing defense,” Edwards said. “We got into a great rhythm.”

In addition to Sutton’s stats, Coppedge had 19 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists. Williams added 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Avent accounted for nine points and six rebounds.

Cam Honey led Ayden-Grifton with 18 points and three rebounds, and Jenkins accounted for 17 points and four boards. Josiha Crandell chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, and TJ Payton also had 11 points.

Ayden-Grifton turned the ball over 13 times.

“I felt like we had 13 in three minutes,” Ayden-Grifton coach John Moye said upon hearing the statistic. “If we’re not going to take care of the basketball, it’s going to be tough.”

The Chargers (11-9, 2-7) have lost four consecutive games and six of their last eight.

“Somehow, we’re going to have to push back,” Moye said. “We’ve got to fight. We’re going to have to push back. We cannot lay down. I know people are getting tired and the season is long, but if you want to have a slight chance to get into the playoffs, you’re going to have to claw and fight your way back.”

Girls’ game

Greene Central 48, Ayden-Grifton 21

The Chargers (2-19, 0-9 EPC) hit three 3-pointers in the game’s first five minutes — including two by Auggie Overby — to go ahead 9-7.

Greene Central (6-15, 3-6) rattled off the next 31 points to turn the game into a rout as Ayden-Grifton was shut out in the second quarter.

“We got into a back-and-forth with them and we weren’t scoring on the possessions we needed to, so we hit a dry spell,” Chargers coach Charles Kessel said. “We got tired. We were missing a couple of players, and we weren’t able to keep up the pace they wanted to play.

“Give credit to Greene Central. They were able to get us uncomfortable, and get us to not be able to hit the shots that we should have been hitting. As I told my girls in the locker room, it’s hard to win basketball games if you don’t score in a quarter.”

By the time Ayden-Grifton’s Krissy Smith hit a 15-foot baseline jumper to end her team’s drought with 4:22 to play in the third quarter, Greene Central had long put the game away.

The Rams also crashed the boards. An’nysha Wooten had 10 points, nine rebounds and a pair of assists. Janiyah Sutton tallied eight points and eight rebounds and Jayce Russell chipped in nine points and seven rebounds. Arlisha Moore had four assists and a pair of steals to go with her three points.

“It’s finally coming together,” Greene Central coach Tammy Elbert said. “I need to get them to understand that we’re ever-growing. We’re just ninth- and 10th-graders. I won’t be losing anybody — we’ll have everybody back — so team chemistry has been our main focus so we can get the extra rebounds and make the extra pass and things of that nature.”

Overby’s six points paced the Chargers offensively. Simone Adams pulled down eight rebounds.

On Tuesday, Ayden-Grifton hosted North Pitt, while Greene Central traveled to Beaufort County to take on Washington.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Feb. 2

Farmville Central 72, Washington 49

Farmville built an insurmountable 29-10 lead in the first quarter and cruised to its third consecutive win and a regular season sweep of the Pam Pack.

FC (10-8, 5-4) traveled to West Craven on Tuesday.

South Central 81, New Bern 27

The Falcons throttled the Bears and remained unbeaten in conference play.

SC (18-2, 9-0) led 28-7 after one and 54-12 at the half. Sabraya Baker poured in 17 points, Niyani Mayo added 12, Kaelyn McCarter nine and Charmaine Dixon eight in the win.

South Central played at Northeastern on Tuesday.

Jan. 31

Farmville Central 71, Wilson Prep 46

The Jags girls also rolled over the Tigers on Wednesday night to improve to 9-8 this season.

Farmville led 23-5 after the first quarter and 37-12 at the halftime.

FC had four players in double digits in points and three double-doubles in the win: Madison Denham had 22 points and nine rebounds, Jamya Saddler had 10 points and 13 boards, Nakevia Phillips had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Kaydien Joyner added 10 points and 10 boards. The Jags nearly had another double-double as Carma Wright had eight points and 10 boards.

South Central 55, J.H. Rose 8

The Falcons corralled Rose’s leading scorer, junior Cameron Daise, and posted shutouts in back-to-back quarters. The Rampants’ eight points were a season-low for them, and a season-best defensive effort for South Central.

Sophomore Brook Evans scored eight of her 22 points in the opening period to lead the guests.

Sophomore Niyani Mayo (10 points), senior Sabraya Baker (seven), junior Jaidyn Boswell (six) and freshman Kaelyn McCarter (five) all topped the highest scorer from the home team.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Feb. 2

Farmville Central 94, Washington 55

The Jaguars won their 13th straight game and 20th this season overall with another blowout.

FC (20-1, 9-0) led 21-9 after the first quarter, withstood a Pam Pack rally in the second and then unleashed 33 points in the third quarter to put the game on ice.

Farmville has three regular season games left, beginning with Tuesday’s trip to West Craven.

South Central 68, New Bern 53

The Falcons flew past the Bears to take maintain position in the Big Carolina Conference.

It marked the eighth straight win for SC (16-1, 9-0), which traveled to Northeastern on Tuesday to take on the only team that’s beaten the Falcons this season.

Jan. 31

Farmville Central 83, Wilson Prep 47

The Jaguars chalked up their 19th win in 20 tries this season with another blowout on the road in Wilson on Wednesday night.

The win completed a non-league sweep for Farmville over the Tigers following a 97-64 win in November.

South Central 71, J.H. Rose 53

The Big Carolina Conference skirmish was decided quickly and decisively, the Falcons’ defense scorching with takeaways and impenetrably blunt-force toughness around the lane.

League status quo held, with South Central exiting the Rose Garden just 48 hours prior to the No. 1-vs.-No. 2 clash with New Bern.

Senior Ean Behm scored 20 points, junior Isaiah Godley 14, junior reserve Da’vius Johnson 11, senior Michael Bowens nine and senior Troy Loftin seven.