SportsWeek
Also Community, Religion and Classifieds march 19, 2015
WS Prep girls win
their first state
championship
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
The game clock ticked off the waning sec
onds.
Jada Craig flashed a high-beam grin as she
dribbled and waited for the time to run out. The
final buzzer sounded and the dream became
reality. Winston-Salem Prep whipped Riverside
Martin 58-31 to claim its first state champi
onship in girls' basketball.
For Craig, it wasn't one of her better offen-^
sive outings (8 points), but she more than com-'
pensated with eight assists and two steals. It was
a fitting way to .close out a season in which the
Phoenix put together one of its most complete
performances:
The championship game played at
Carmichael Arena proved to be a replay of
Prep's outcomes in earlier rounds of this year's
state playoffs. The Phoenix (24-3) won in blow
out fashion again.
In the Class 1-A final, Coach Eugene Love's
team was dominant. The game was never tied
and there were no lead changes. As a team,
Riverside didn't score in double digits until the
fourth quarter.
Winston-Salem Prep overwhelmed the
Knights in every way possible, especially on
defense. Riverside shot 25.5 percent from the
field and 35 percent from the free throw line.
The Knights top offensive threat Kayla Jones
(21.5 points per game) was limited to 12 points
and 11 rebounds on 3-of-16 field goal shooting.
She was the only Knight to score in double fig
ures.
Much of Jones's shooting woes were caused
by the defensive presence of Dominique
Claytor, who at 5-feet-10 was able to match-up
well against Jones, a 6-feet-l swing player^ho
does most of Riverside's ball-handling. Claytor,
the championship game MVP, scored 10 points
and pulled down eight rebounds.
"There was never a question as to who
would guard Jones," said Love. "Dominique is
tall enough and athletic enough to handle that
match-up. She did an outstanding job in making
Jones work for everything she got."
Claytor embraced the challenge and more
than held her own in the one-on-one duel. "I just
See Prep Girls on B2
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Jada Craig is fouled trying to score.
Prep boys fall short in
state title game
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
For the first time in five trips to the state basketball finals,
Winston-Salem Prep ended up as the runner-up. In a back-and
forth contest that had the feel of a
12-round boxing match, the
Phoenix suffered a 67-64 loss to
East Carteret in the Class 1-A state
championship game played at
Carmichael Arena last week.
Entering the final, Winston
Salem Prep (20-8) had won three
state titles in a row. This time, the
script ended differently. East
Carteret's mini-armada of shooters
converted enough shot attempts to
avenge last year's state title game
loss to the Phoenix. Ty Simmons,
Sam Johnson, Jacque Brown and
Brennan Lewis combined to score
62 points for the Mariners.
"People saw two evenly
matched teams go back-and-forth
from start to finish," said Coach
Josh Gould of Prep. "Coming down
the stretch, they made a few more
plays than we did. There are no
excuses. We did everything we
could to win. But on this day, the better team came through.'
Neither team was able to fully impose its will on the other.
The game featured eight ties and 17 lead changes. The largest
lead for either team was 5 points. At different stretches of the
game, fatigue was evident on both sides.
?OHBBI The crowd of nearly 7,000 created an elec
trie atmosphere worthy of a postseason set
ting.
"This was an intense game and the fans
realty got-into jt."i4Cwa'Tre Hoilingsworth
said, who was voted Most Outstanding
Player for Prep. "There were times when I
got very tired, but I had to find a way to fight
through it. This was a fun game to play in."
Prep took the lead for the last time at 57
56 on Hoilingsworth's 3-pointer with 3:38
left to play in the fourth quarter. From that
point on, Simmons scored a couple of bas
kets and Brown converted five free throws to
account for 9 of the Mariner's final 11
points.
The Phoenix, down 62-59 with 37 sec
onds left in the game, still had an opportuni
ty to make a comeback. Hoilingsworth
launched a 3-pointer that would 've tied the
game, but his shot was off and the Mariners
grabbed the rebound. ^
See Prep Boys on B2
Photos by Craig T Greenlee
Prep's DJ? Hairston battles for posi
tion iri the paint.
V 1. ?JM?
Phoenix's Nequan Carrington (in red) rises to
block shot by East Carteret's Jacque Brown.
WSP's Keeshon Patrick (21) tries to pressure
the inbound pass from East Carteret's Trevor
Willis.
Reynolds girls' wrap up season on high note
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Reynolds was short-circuited in its
efforts to win a state championship in
girls' basketball. Even so, it was a spe
cial time that people will remember for
all the right reasons.
The school record books will note
that when it comes to the 2014-15 sea
son, no Reynolds girls' team has ever
done it better. The Lady Demons won
27 games in a row before bowing out to
Charlotte Myers Park in the semifinals
of the Class 4-A West Regional earlier
this month.
Myers Park topped Southeast
Raleigh in the state final to repeat as
state champions.
Reynolds has gone through a trans
formation under second-year Coach
Johnathan Gainey. With the exception
of one game, the Lady Demons bedaz
zled the opposition with their speed,
quickness and athleticism. Gainey post
ed a 16-11 mark in his first season.
Keyera Eaton, Aloni McFarland,
Dominique Adams, Hannah Semke and
Candice Hodge provided the senior
leadership necessary for RJR to maxi
mize the talent on its roster.
"We were competitive and we con
tinued to get better with each game,"
said Gainey. "When that happens you
have a chance to be pretty good. Once
they started to play together and believe
in themselves, they realized that the sky
was the limit.
The seniors are gone, but they
paved the way and left their mark.
Because of those seniors, the players
coming back understand what it takes to
compete and win at the highest level.
Now it's their turn to leave their mark."
RJR has three returnees who figure
to play prominent roles for next season.
All three gained valuable game experi
ence as underclassmen.
Point guard Tierra Wilson, who
averaged 16.5 points and 5.1 assists,
blossomed as a bona fide game-chang
er. Freshman combo guard Amari
Cuthbertson (9.6 points) provided
instant offense coming off the bench
and swing player Jayme Byers emerged
as a solid contributor at both ends of the
floor.
In scouting reports, Wilson, a soph
See Reynolds on B2
I Mil I "
Photos by Craig T Greenlee
Point guard Tierra Wilson had a break-out
season as a sophomore.
Keyera Eaton (3) played a key role in RJR
having its best-ever season in girls basket
ball.
^ 1
m a V ^Jfl| A I
KMiilXCfl
MPPP^WWiVQ
ifei
mitl?
rl/flWB
A VmDx^^ ^A^SrV A
^K^fHTT^r^