Southern Wayne’s Kairel Evans (5) scores against Charles B. Aycock’s Aaron Joyner during second-half action of their Quad County 3A game Friday evening in Dudley. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Jayden Hardy, left, stops C.B. Aycock’s Zimere McClarin from driving the baseline. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
C.B. Aycock’s Jaiden Williams, left, attempts to dribble past Southern Wayne’s Dorien Toussaint during first-half play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
C.B. Aycock’s Monte Broadie (10) scores an early layup past Southern Wayne defenders Jayden Hardy (back) and senior Chris Carmon (1). (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Jayden Hardy (15) looks for an opening against C.B. Aycock’s Connor Bailey. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Southern Wayne seniors Chris Carmon, Ty Williams and Karius Bellamy finally experienced a long-anticipated, sweet triumph over a cross-county rival Friday evening.
They can thank teammate Kairel Evans.
The freshman point guard calmly drained six consecutive free throws in the final 36.2 seconds to lift the Saints past Charles B. Aycock, 72-65, before a jam-packed crowd inside “The Halo” Friday evening.
It was the Quad County 3A regular-season finale for both teams.
Not surprisingly, Carmon and Evans shared the ball-handling duties in the final five minutes of regulation. Ice water flowed through the duo’s veins as they combined for 16 fourth-quarter points and helped the Saints snap a frustrating 10-game skid in the series.
“When you have a guy that can handle the ball as freshman with poise and a little bit of savvy, and you’ve got a senior who has never beaten them his entire time here, they’ve got to have the ball because they were ready for the challenge,” SW head coach Brian West said.
SW led 53-51 after three periods.
Dorien Toussaint tallied the Saints’ first bucket in the fourth.
Evans converted two possessions, including an “and one” (three-point play), which pushed the advantage to 60-51 around the six-minute mark.
The Golden Falcons shaved the deficit to 61-55 and had a chance to pull even closer. Toussaint pounced on a loose ball underneath the CBA basket and called timeout before the referees could call a held-ball possession.
After the short stoppage in play, Carmon rebounded his own miss and stuck it back in the basket. Toussaint extended the lead to 64-55 with a free throw and CBA twice climbed to within six points.
Carmon and Evans did the rest from that point.
“I knew we had to come out, execute and play some defense,” West said. “If we were able to do that, we would be okay. The guys played hard on defense and it gave us time to make some runs, make some plays.”
Aycock trailed 39-29 at halftime.
The Golden Falcons controlled the offensive boards and slowly whittled away the deficit. The Saints’ double-digit advantage dwindled to a single basket heading into the last eight minutes.
West attributed his team’s ability to handle the runs to intense daily practices that have paid dividends throughout the second half of the season.
“They deserve it,” West said. “They earned everything tonight. When they made runs, we didn’t let our body language [show]. We didn’t let anything throw us off of our mission.”
Carmon dropped 24 points on the Golden Falcons, while Evans drained the nets for 23. They combined to convert 20 of the Saints’ 24 made free throws, including 9 of 11 in the fourth quarter.
Demetrius Elliott contributed 13 points. Jayden Hardy added five for the Saints, who head into the QCC tournament as the seventh seed.
Southern Wayne (9-15 overall) visits second-seeded Wilson Hunt for a 6 p.m. contest Monday. The fifth-seeded Golden Falcons (12-12) launch defense of their QCC tournament crown at fourth-seeded South Johnston.
Other first-round games are No. 8 Smithfield-Selma at two-time defending regular-season champ East Wake and sixth-seeded Wilson Fike at third-seeded West Johnston.
