TARBORO —
The SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars used forced turnovers, 18 offensive rebounds and second and third chance opportunities to their advantage Friday night to defeat the Tarboro Vikings in the Edgecombe County Holiday Christmas tournament. They scored 24 points off of those turnovers and extra chance shots. SouthWest defeated Tarboro 64-56 to win the championship.
"We can't give up that many extra chances or turn the ball over like and win," Tarboro head coach Craig Savage said. "The little things we don't think about during the course of the game caused us to come out on the short end. Those things hurt us."
Javin Hinton and Anthony Coley have been the floor generals for the Cougars all season. They combined for 34 points and grabbed 24 rebounds. Hinton led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Coley added 16 points and 14 boards.
Hinton and Coley wanted revenge from last years lost in the tournament. That lost left a bad taste in the seniors mouths and they wanted to redeem themselves.
"It felt good to come back and win the tournament during my senior year," Coley said. "It was just great – we knew we had to play hard on both ends of the court especially defense."
Hinton said it felt great because they played as a team the entire game. He said they prepared and were ready for the challenge.
"We just had to stay under control," Hinton said. "I knew I had to be a leader and I put the guys on my shoulders to carry them."
Cougars’ first year head coach Anthony Burns was excited about his teams win. He was pleased with his teams performance and were glad that they didn't give up on either end of the floor.
"We threw all the records out before we stepped on the floor," Burns said. "We knew who ever made the least amount of mistakes would probably win. We are heading the right direction with this win. We are getting better and that is all I asked of my guys to continue to get better everyday. We still have to get good enough to compete in the conference, but we are getting their."
SouthWest controlled the tempo most the game. They jumped out to an early 10-4 lead and forced Savage to call a timeout.
"I told the guys to settle down because I knew we were going to be a little nervous," Savage said. "I knew they were a good team and would make a run. I just wanted the guys to relax and play their style of ball."
Coming out of the timeout freshman Toney Gregory scored on a layup for the Vikings, but the Cougars weren't going to lose the momentum. Hinton hit a five foot jumper on the ensuing possession. The Cougars then forced a Tarboro turnover, which led to a Devonte Williams three-pointer from the wing to give the Cougars a 15-6 lead with 1:08 left. After another Tarboro turnover, Hinton scored on a layup. Markese Clapp then added a basket for Tarboro. Fabrion Bandy added another Cougar basket as time expired to give the Cougars a 19-8 lead after one quarter.
Both teams played back and forth throughout the second quarter. SouthWest jumped out early and put a 6-0 run together. Coley got his team fired up after he caught a rebound in mid-air and slammed it back home with one hand. After that Tarboro inched their way back into the game as they closed out the half on an 8-0 run and trailed 28-21 at halftime.
"I thought the group I had out there before halftime did a good job," Savage said. "I told them at halftime to keep fighting and not to let up. I told them we needed to quit making silly mistakes because they were executing off of them."
Both teams tried to grab momentum in the third quarter and push the opposing teams defense, but neither team could grab the advantage. A few big baskets by both teams kept the game close. SouthWest led 41-33 after three quarters.
In the fourth, the Cougars were bound and determine they weren't going to give up the lead. Tarboro played right with the Cougars through the first four plus minutes of the quarter. Kelvin Jones added two big threes and Quay Wooten added two big baskets for the Cougars. Tarboro put a small run together which forced Burns to take a timeout.
"I told the guys we had to get live on defense and talk more," Burns said. "There wasn't much energy and I wanted my guys to change that."
Coming out of the timeout, SouthWest set a play up and tried to find and Coley inside. The Vikings defensive pressure wouldn't allow that, so Hinton settled for a six foot jumper. The ball came off of the rim and Coley grabbed the rebound and slammed it with two hands. From that point on the Cougars controlled the momentum and were able to hang on for the win.
Coley was named MVP of the tournament, while Hinton and Debronn Best were named to the All-Tournament team.
Jones and Maliek Hudson received the honors for Tarboro.
Sports
Related Photos
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SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars guard Devonte Williams goes up for a layup Friday against the Tarboro Vikings in the Edgecombe County Holiday Christmas tournament championship game. For The Daily Southerner
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The SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars won the annual Edgecombe County Holiday Christmas tournament. For The Daily Southerner
Cougars slip by Vikings, win championship
COUNTY BATTLE
- Sports
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Pinetops 300
PINETOPS – With the threat of rain during the weekend, it put a little damper on the Pinetops 300 Tractor and Truck Pull attendance. Friday night there was a large crowd in attendance, but not the amount it has been the last several years. There was 500 less people in attendance Friday then there was a year ago, but it didn't stop the pullers from slinging mud everywhere. The fans in one section even had a chance to see what it looked like when a belt breaks on a fine tuned machine. During the Mini Modified run, Thomas Coleman, of Stoneville, had a belt break on his KB 526 Pure Hell ride and the belt slung into the crowd. No one was injured.
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Vikings, Cougars compete in 2-A state meet
The Tarboro Vikings and SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars had six girls apiece competing in the NCHSAA 2-A state track meet in Greensboro Friday at North Carolina A&T State University.
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Six Tarboro girls to compete in track finals
Motivation is a big part of the Tarboro Viking girl's track team's success this season. They enjoy working hard during practice for their coach Rickie Dozier and get fulfillment when they compete in events. Friday will be no different for the six girls that are headed to Greensboro to compete in the NCHSAA 2-A state championship meet at North Carolina A&T State University. They will compete in three relay events and the long jump.
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BIG FISH
Camden Grant and her boyfriend Ricky Davis, Jr. caught a 10 pound carp at a state wildlife pond Wednesday morning off of Highway 33 just outside of Tarboro. Grant said she caught the fish on a piece of shrimp around 10:30 a.m.
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Vikings ousted from playoffs by Jaguars
CARRBORO – After defeating the No. 1 seed in the playoffs Friday, the Tarboro Vikings forgot one thing, they had to hit the ball again Tuesday against the Carrboro Jaguars or their season would be over.
Tarboro failed to be productive at the plate and were eliminated from the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs after losing 8-0 in the second round. Tarboro never gave in after getting down early, but they just couldn't catch a break offensively and get anything going after trailing by five runs after the second inning. -
Cougars finish 7th in state golf match
The SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars went through the regionals and won by four strokes. They just couldn't get it going in the state golf championships Monday or Tuesday at Longleaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines. The Cougars finished seventh as a team after shooting 658 over the two day period.
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Vikings advance to second round after defeating Bunn
BUNN – The Tarboro Vikings brought their "A" game and some lively bats with them Friday night when they defeated the Bunn Wildcats 7-5 in the first round of the 2-A NCHSAA state baseball playoffs. The last time the Vikings won a playoff game it was at the same location five years ago.
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Bess hired as new Vikings basketball coach
The Tarboro Vikings have made a coaching change in boy's basketball. They hired Reggie Bess as the new Vikings skipper April 26. Bess is a former Viking basketball star who played for Tarboro in 1995-96. He was part of a team that went to the Eastern Regional finals in 95.
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Tarboro native inducted into Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame
Tarboro native and Tarboro High graduate Martin "Glenn" Sasser was inducted into The Greater Wilimington Sports Hall of Fame Sunday.
Sasser was named to the All-Conference and All-State teams during his high school career. He was also selected to play in the Shrine Bowl game in 1960 and then played in the East-West game in 1961. -
16 under softball tryouts
The Tarboro Parks and Recreation Department and Edgecombe County Girls Softball League will be holding tryouts for 16-under girls fast-pitch softball. The tryouts will takes place Monday and wednesday from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at Indian Lake Sports Complex on field three.
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