Published: 12:28 AM, Sat Jan 23, 2010
Pine Forest stays in the running for conference title with win
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
Pine Forest 59, Seventy-First 44
One good half turned out to be all Pine Forest needed to stay in the chase for the Mid-South 4-A Conference regular-season basketball title Friday night.
At the same time, it left Seventy-First almost completely out of the picture.
T.J. Jones scored 16 points and Ryan May added 12 as Pine Forest rallied in the final two quarters for a 59-44 win over Seventy-First.
Pine Forest is 14-3 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-South Conference, with a big game Tuesday at first-place Terry Sanford.
Friday's loss at Pine Forest, Seventy-First's second defeat this week, left the Falcons 3-4 in the league with just five conference games left and 13-5 overall.
In the first half, it looked like the final score might be reversed as Pine Forest was having trouble making any kind of shot, scoring only 14 points in the first two quarters. Seventy-First wasn't a lot better, but managed a 16-14 lead at the half.
"We just couldn't make a layup,'' Trojan coach David May said. "I bet we missed six or seven point-blank layups. Defensively, I thought we played pretty well, held them to 16 points.
"At halftime, we really made some adjustments, hit the seams, hit the open guys. A couple of guys hit some 3s. We got in there attacking more instead of setting up for long jumpers.''
Jones helped provide some of the offensive spark for the Trojans, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the second half.
"Coach told us to drive and the shots opened up for us in the second half,'' Jones said. "It was just hustle, getting loose balls and running the floor.''
"He's one of our leaders,'' May said of Jones. "He and Ryan May are who we look to at crunch time to get us a W. He did a lot of good things, especially defensively.''
May also praised the play of sophomore point guard Alex Bradley, especially in the game's final minutes. "He controlled the ball, handling their pressure, getting the ball to the right people, knocking down free throws,'' May said. "I was tickled to death.''
May called Friday's win huge as it kept Pine Forest two games behind Terry Sanford in the Mid-South standings. The teams meet Tuesday at Terry Sanford.
"It was a close game here and I know they are licking their chops for us,'' May said. "We're going to have to give an unbelievable effort and some things will have to go right for us to knock them off.''
Lost intensity
Seventy-First coach David Simmons felt his team lost defensive intensity in the second half. "We just didn't come out as focused,'' he said. Simmons pointed to back-to-back 3-pointers by Pine Forest's Omar Pemberton in the final seconds of the third quarter as key for the Trojans.
Pemberton's baskets staked Pine Forest to a 35-26 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Preston Ross was the only player in double figures for Seventy-First, finishing with 23 points.
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.Pine Forest 59, Seventy-First 44
Seventy-First
8
8
10
18-44
Pine Forest
3
11
21
24-59
SEVENTY-FIRST - Brown, McKethan, McCaleb 2, Lewis 2, McKnight, Hines 8, Megginson 6, Hambrick, Preston Ross 23, Thomas 3.
PINE FOREST - McMillion 3, Brown, Pemberton 8, Mercer 2, Alex Bradley 12, Washington 4, Ryan May 12, T.J. Jones 16, Perez 2.
Fouled out: 71st - Megginson
Technical fouls: 71st - Ross
3-point goals: 71st - Ross; PF - Pemberton 2, Jones
Records: Seventy-First 13-5, 3-4; Pine Forest 14-3, 5-2