A6
THE COURIER-TIMES IROXBORO, NC
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3,2011
Rockets edge out
border rival Comets
][
PHS BOYS' BASKETBALLI
[-
Bench supplies
early spark in
63-62 victory
BY GREG PHIPPS
COURIER-TIMES SPORTS EDITOR
ctsports@toxboro-courier.coni
SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — You
can basically throw out any pre
conceived notions when the Per
son Rockets and Halifax Comets
hook up in boys’ basketball ac
tion, as the two teams, more of
ten than not, end up in a close
barnburner.
That was the case again Fri
day night at the Halifax High
School gymnasium.
The Comets climbed to with
in one point at 61-60 on Dakota
Delaware’s turnaround jumper
from inside the paint with un
der a minute left. But two free
throws by Tyrone Outlaw Jr.,
who scored Person’s final seven
points, turned out to be the win
ning tallies in a 63-62 squeaker
in the Rockets’ favor.
A backcourt violation against
the Comets with 10 seconds re
maining appeared to clinch it
for the visitors but four missed
free throws by the Rockets in
the waning seconds still kept
Halifax’s hopes alive.
Halifax guard Ford Bradshaw
was fouled on a rebound and
sank both freebies to make it a
one-point contest with exactly
2.8 seconds on the clock. That’s
how it would end, though, as
the home team could muster no
miracle on this night.
“It’s always an emotional
game when we play each other
because of the rivalry aspect
of it,” said Person head coach
Charles Dacus. “1 thought we
kept our composure at the end
and Terrick [Scoggins] did a
great job of helping us control
the tempo, get into the offensive
sets we needed to get into, and
get the ball to where it needed to
go.”
Scoggins finished with a sea
son high 14 points, including
two three-pointers. He produced
11 of his total in the third pe
riod.
The Rockets, who were com
ing off another tight 62-60 loss
at Orange on Wednesday, im
proved to 4-1 with the victory
while Halifax dropped to 1-1.
Momentum appeared to be
on Person’s side after Outlaw,
who finished with a game-high
23 points, drove in for a dunk
off a Comet turnover just as the
third quarter buzzer sounded.
That play gave the Rockets a 50-
48 edge but Halifax wouldn’t go
away, as the contest remained
tight throughout the final eight
minutes.
Backup players Ricky Win
stead and Marquis Torain also
played key minutes in the final
quarter for Person.
They were both part of a
game-altering, five-player sub
stitution that occurred with
about three minutes left in the
first quarter.
The Rockets had fallen be
hind hy a hefty 20-5 margin and
looked listless (five furnovers
KENNETH MARTIN I SMITHSPH0T0.COM
Rocket forward LeRon Cash is fouled by Comet Tavon Petty as he goes to the basket in Friday’s
one-point win over border rival Halifax.
We were really flat at the
start ...I thought were got to
change something and do
something different Those
[bench] guys got us going
and energized the entire
team.
gins gave Person its first lead
at 37-36 early in the third. The
teams traded the lead several
times during the second half.
Halifax forged back in front,
48-45, late in the third before
the Rockets would score the fi
nal five points of the quarter to
enter period four with a 50-48
edge.
Freddie Edmunds was the top
scorer for the Comets with 17
points, followed by Bradshaw’s
16 and 11 from Tevon Petty.
In Wednesday’s loss at Or
ange, the Rockets trailed by
Charles Dacus
Person boys' basketball coacb
seven points late but climbed
back to take a one-point lead. In
the end, the Panthers, behind a
game-high 26 points, including
seven baskets from beyond the
arc from Keegan Crabtree, man
aged to come away with a 62-60
win.
Outlaw finished with 21
points while Marquis Torain
collected 10 and Maurelle Ste
phens and Terrick Scoggins
eight each for the Rockets. Jerry
Smith also added seven points
in the defeat.
The Rockets remain on the
road for a contest at Oxford
Webb next Tuesday, Dec. 6, at
7:30 p.m. Person drubbed the
Warriors by 22 points in the
season opener back on Nov. 22.
They open the Piedmont Athlet
ic Conference season next Fri
day night at Northern Durham
in a 7 p.m. contest.
COMETS VICTORIOUS IN JV
GAME
The Person junior varsity
team fell behind by 16 points af
ter three quarters and couldn’t
recover in a 65-53 loss to Halifax
on Friday.
Tre Tapp led the Rockets with
14 points, followed by Jae’Ron
Rogers with 10 and Nick Bailey
with nine. The Person JVs fell
to 1-1 on the season.
KENNETH MARTIN I SMITHSPHOTO.COM
Person’s Terrick Scoggins reaches in to steal the basketball from
Comet Dakota Delaware.
on their first six possessions
and 10 overall in the first pe
riod) through the opening five
minutes of the contest.
That’s when Dacus sent in
Winstead, Torain, LeRon Cash,
Jashawn King and Devin Scog
gins. That lineup promptly
ignited a 10-0 run that got the
Rockets right back in the game.
“We were really flat at the
start and with about three min
utes left in the quarter I thought
we’ve got to change something
and do something totally differ
ent,” he explained. “Those guys
got us going and energized the
entire team and brought back
our intensity.”
Downtown baskets by Ter
rick Scoggins and Logan Coats
and eight points from Outlaw
helped Person outscore Halifax,
23-14, in the second and close the
gap to 34-32 at the half.
Two free throws from Scog
Person 63, Halifax 62
Friday, December 2
at Halifax High School
Person (63) — Jashawn King
1 0-0 2; Marquis Torain 1 2-6 4;
Maurelle Stephens 1(1) 0-0 3; Terrick
Scoggins 4(2) 4-9 14; Logan Coats
1(1) 0-0 3; Ricky Winstead 1 2-2 4;
LeRon Cash 0 1-21; Jerry Smith 1
1-5 3; Tyrone Outlaw 7(1) 8-10 23;
Devin Scoggins 3 0-0 6. Totals —
20(5) 18-34 63.
Halifax (62) — Ford Bradshaw 4
8-11 16; Thomas Brooks 2(1) 0-0 5;
Freddie Edmunds 6 5-8 17; Shaquill
Ford 0 1-21; Evan Morrison 0 0-0 0;
Dakota Delaware 3 0-2 6; Tavon Petty
5(2) 1-2 13; James Jennings 2 0-0 4.
Totals —22(3) 15-25 62.
Score by quarters:
Person 9 23 18 13 63
Halifax 20 14 14 14 62
3-POINT GOALS: PERSON (5):
TScoggins 2, Stephens, Coats,
Outlaw. HALIFAX (3): Petty 2, Brooks.
REBOUNDS: PERSON (25): Outlaw
9. HALIFAX (19): Edmunds 6, Petty 5.
TURNOVERS: PERSON 19. HALIEAX
18.
Bulldog boys off to
fast start at 2-0
-][
RCS ROUNDUP
[
ZEBULON — The Roxboro
Community School Bulldogs
are already within one win of
equaling their total amount for
last season.
And that’s just two games into
the campaign.
On Wednesday, the Bulldogs,
once again, received strong per
formances from transfers Char
lie Burton Jr. and Jalen Bass,
who finished with 22 and 20
points respectively, and wound
up rolling to a convincing 83-62
victory at East Wake Academy
in boys’ varsity basketball ac
tion.
Burton and Bass have com
bined for 88 points over the hrst
two games.
The win left RCS at 2-0 on the
early season. The Division lA
Bulldogs traveled to play Noble
Academy on Friday and open
their Carolina 12 Conference
season at Granville Central next
5T?eBUlLDOG$,/’fig'e 7
Five Rocket players earn all-
PAC-6 gridiron recog-
-II
PHS FOOTBALL
I-
Though the 2011 season
didn’t turn out as successful as
the Person Rockets would have
liked after finishing with just
one victory, five Rocket players
received all-Piedmont Athletic
Conference recognition for their
performance this fall.
Most notable amongst the
four Rockets who were named
to the all-conference team was
senior running back Thurman
Clayton, who busted open for
1,443 yards and 11 touchdowns,
which included two 200-plus
yard games.
Clayton finished with four
200-plus performances over his
three-year varsity career, which
was marred hy injuries un
til this season when he stayed
healthy for all 11 contests.
He produced three quarters
of the team’s total rushing yard
age and was also responsible for
just over half the team’s total
yards of offense this season.
The other all-PAC-6 selection
on offense was all-purpose ju
nior player Joseph Downey, who
[
twins
r-\rz\
fiWIETS
Thurman Clayton
Joseph Downey
Tyriel McCain
Derrick Tuck
Daron Blackwell
caught 24 passes for 508 yards
and three scores and rushed for
399 yards and seven touchdowns
on the ground.
Downey was also named to
the all-conference squad as a re
turn specialist. He was a feared
kickoff and punt returner, scor
ing on a kickoff return against
Oxford Webb and producing
several other long-gainers over
the course of the season.
On defense, junior tackle
Tyriel McCain made the team
for the second year in a row.
He is considered one of the top
defensive linemen in the PAC-6
and is solid at stuffing the mid
dle and stopping the run, as well
as fighting off blocks and pursu
ing the ball. He was also one of
the team’s better pass rushers.
Perhaps the biggest surprise
honoree was senior defensive
back Derrick Tuck, who picked
off three passes during the sea
son and was one of Person’s best
players in one-on-one coverage.
Senior linebacker Daron
Blackwell, one of the team’s top
tacklers and pass rushers, re
ceived honorable mention. He
was also strong in pursuit, espe
cially side-to-side, and was one
of the emotional leaders on this
year’s defense.
The Rockets struggled to a
1-10 overall hnish and an 0-6
mark in the PAC-6 this season.
Notes: This 2011 Iron Man
Awards for perfect attendance
went to varsity players McCain,
Jashawn King, Shaquille Oliver,
and Cory Torain. Junior varsity
Iron Man recipients were Matt
Allen, Adam Griffith, Jared
Link, Francisco Jimenez, Najee
Davis, and team manager Ar
chie Knott