The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Sports

December 30, 2009

Mabry, Cougars upends Warriors 60-58

Calvin Adkins

Daquan Mabry and the SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars apparently didn’t get the memo that they were underdogs against the North Edgecombe Warriors Tuesday night in Tarboro. Neither did the Warriors.

Mabry scored on a layup as time expired to upset the Warriors 60-58 in the first round of the Edgecombe County Classic Holiday Tournament.

North handily defeated the Cougars earlier this season and by many prognosticators predictions, the same thing would happen again.

However, the Cougars came out poised and took an early lead that they would never relinquish. But things did get very interesting in the final minute of the game.

SouthWest led 56-48 with 1:20 left in the game and it appeared that the game was in the books.

With their backs up against the wall, the Warriors fought back. Cougar Ehab Hadi knocked down two critical free throws with 15 seconds left in the game that gave the Cougars a 58-55 advantage.

That’s when the excitement began. Warrior Kadeem Alexander countered Hadi’s free throws by draining a 3-pointer that tied the game at 58-58 with six seconds left in the game.

South had turned the ball over twice during the inbound play during the final minutes of the game. But this time turned out to be a gem.

The Cougar Jeremy Woodard broke the Warriors’ half court press and found Mabry (14 points) who drove to the basket and scored as time expired.

“I was nervous, but I was able to make it,” Mabry said. “We beat a good team tonight. Now we have to get ready for Tarboro.”

For Cougars Coach Tom Wooten the final play ran to perfection.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “We practiced that play every day in practice with exactly six seconds on the clock. This was a big win for us. Now we can defend our title.”

The Cougars held the Warriors star Montrezl Harrell to 16 points. The sophomore also had eight blocked shots. In the first game against the Cougars Harrell scored 20 points, blocked eight shots and grabbed nine rebounds.

“We didn’t execute our game plan tonight and SouthWest did,” said North Coach Danny Ward. “We were not in sync at all. We have to learn to be patient on the offensive side of the ball. I’m not disappointed about losing, but I’m disappointed about the way that we played. We are a better team than that.”

SouthWest Quandre Pittman scored a career high 16 points. Hadi also scored a career high 15 points.

“This was a team victory,” Wooten said. “Everybody did their part.”

The Cougars, who are defending Classic Holiday champions, will play Tarboro for the title tonight. The Lady Cougars will also defend their title against the Vikings tonight.



Lady Vikings 47 Lady Warriors 45

North Edgecombe Lady Warriors came close, but no cigars in the girls consolation game against the Northwest Halifax Vikings and fell 47-45 in another nail-biter.

The Warriors outscored the Vikings 9-3 in the closing minutes, but the comeback attempt was too much for North to overcome.

Alysia Harvey stole the ball and scored a layup and the Warriors trailed 46-43 with 15 seconds left in the game. The Warriors forced another Vikings turnover that gave the Warriors another chance.

That opportunity was squashed when Harvey missed a basket inside the paint.

“I’m a little disappointed, but we put up a fight,” Vines said. “We are still missing a lot of opportunities – too many easy shots. We made a good effort to come back against a good Northwest Halifax team.”

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