Southern Wayne junior point guard Nevaeh Hines-Bass passes off to a teammate as Charles B. Aycock’s Audrey Teasley defends from behind. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne senior Wilberline Senatus pulls down one of her career-high 12 rebounds during Friday’s game against Quad County 3A rival Charles B. Aycock. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Wilberline Senatus, right, defends against Charles B. Aycock’s Bree Jones during first-quarter play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne senior Yme JeanBaptiste defends a shot by Charles B. Aycock’s Bree Jones. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Southern Wayne had the perfect third-quarter start.
It didn’t last.
The Saints watched a 10-point lead disappear and endured a 35-30 loss to cross-county rival Charles B. Aycock in the Quad County 3A regular-season finale for both teams Friday evening.
“The second half, I really felt like the girls played great,” SW head girls’ basketball coach Ricky Lofton said.
SW led 11-9 at halftime.
Kyren Strong ignited the Saints’ 12-4 run with a short jumper on the baseline. Senior Wilberline Senatus, who wiped the glass for a career-high 12 boards, scored twice. Junior guard Nevaeh Hines-Bass dropped two 3-pointers on the Golden Falcons.
Aycock answered with a 10-2 run that included 3-pointers from Audrey Teasley and Keytah Kermode. Hines-Bass added another basket, which allowed Southern Wayne to enter the final quarter ahead 25-23.
The Golden Falcons turned up the defensive heat.
Missed field goals and open-court turnovers haunted the Saints.
Kermode’s 3-pointer off Teasley’s assist gave the Golden Falcons a 31-29 advantage they wouldn’t concede. Strong collected the Saints’ last point — a free throw — with 4:19 to go.
“We just weren’t decent on offense, just could not get shots up,” Lofton said. “They played a lot better defense in the second half. We made mistakes and they capitalized on them. But our girls kept fighting.”
Hines-Bass pumped in a team- and game-high 19 points for the Saints, who recognized Senatus (four points) and fellow senior Yme JeanBaptiste (four points) after the game. Strong supplied five points, while Aaliyah Williams scratched for four points.
Teasley paced CBA with 10 points, while Kermode had eight.
Southern Wayne (9-15 overall, 6-8 QCC) opens defense of its QCC tournament title Tuesday at fourth-seeded South Johnston. The third-seeded Golden Falcons (12-12, 9-5) welcome sixth-seeded West Johnston to Pikeville the same evening.
Each game tips off at 6 p.m.
