Southern Wayne guard D’Untae Wright, middle, splits Charles B. Aycock defenders Jaidyne Dunn and Donovan Woodard before passing the ball off to a teammate Thursday evening in Pikeville. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Chris McDuffie gets fouled from behind during fourth-quarter action against C.B. Aycock on Thursday evening. Watching the play unfold are the Golden Falcons’ DJ Prince and the Saints’ DuJuan Armwood. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s TyQuavious Williams (22) gets fouled by a C.B. Aycock defender during second-half action in their semifinal-round game in the Quad County 3A tournament Thursday evening. Williams’ scored eight points in the Saints’ 56-49 loss. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
PIKEVILLE — Chris McDuffie toed the free throw line, eyed the basket and took a deep breath.
Swish and swish. Southern Wayne led 45-44 with 4:15 on the clock.
Was a new chapter in the Saints-Charles B. Aycock boys’ hoops rivalry about to get written?
The Golden Falcons stole the ink.
Gamere Culver and Jaidyne Dunn spearheaded a game-clinching run that lifted Aycock 56-49 in semifinal-round play of the 2023 Quad County 3A tournament Thursday evening.
Aycock (21-5 overall) opposes East Wake in today’s final.
Eager to snap an eight-game skid in the long-running series, the third-seeded Saints (13-12) prevented the Golden Falcons from creating an up-tempo pace.
“It was about tempo, intensity,” Saints head coach Brian West said. “We walked the ball upcourt more tonight. We weren’t trying to get into a track meet. We made them play defense.”
The cross-county foes erased deficits, forced ties and traded leads in an electric atmosphere. Neither team held more than a two-possession advantage.
SW entered halftime ahead 26-23.
“We paid attention to detail,” West said.
Dunn ignited Aycock after the break.
The senior guard, along with Culver, combined for eight points. The quick start prompted West to burn a timeout barely two minutes into the quarter.
E’lla Boykin’s offensive putback and D’Untae Wright’s bucket pushed the Saints back in front, 32-31. Dunn became an unstoppable force offensively as Aycock claimed a 42-37 lead after three periods.
“My guys never shut down,” West said.
Indeed.
Terdarius Butler sank a 3-pointer.
Ty Williams converted an offensive putback.
McDuffie’s two free throws capped an 8-2 surge.
Dunn got fouled on a drive to the rim and hit both free throws. That started a game-clinching 12-4 run for the Golden Falcons, who scrambled for loose balls and capitalized on empty possessions by the Saints.
“There were two possessions where we were battling, the ball popped up and they got an “and-one” underneath the basket,” West said. “There was another possession where we were attacking the basket and we took threes on the back end, good shots from a guy who normally knocks them down.
“That turned the tide.”
Dunn collected 20 points, including a 10 of 12 effort at the charity stripe. Culver knocked down 19. Kam Prince added six.
McDuffie tallied 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Williams filled his stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. DuJuan Armwood contributed 10 points, four rebounds and two steals. Butler ended up with seven points and four assists.
Wright ended the night with nine points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
“I am absolutely happy with the effort,” West said. “To them, it felt like it was them against the world all year long. They never showed emotions. They never got outside character.
“They just continued to play the game as hard as I asked them to do.”
East Wake is the QCC’s automatic qualifier to the postseason. The Golden Falcons and Saints anticipate at-large invitations. The NC High School Athletic Association will release the pairings Saturday.
