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y
Page It-B-THE BRUNSWICK BEACON, Ttiursilav. RUrcb U. 1987
SWEPT COUGS. WEST MONTGOMERY
West Brunswick Turned Back
In 2-A Sectional ill Finals
BY JOHNNY CRAIG
A mere one game separated West
Brunswick from the state eastern
regional basketball tournament prior
to last'Saturday's matchup of the
underdog Trojans and powerful Wac-
camaw Conference champion
Whiteville. The Trojans had scrap
ped past West Montgomery' in the
opening round of the Sectional III
tourney last Tuesday then nipped
East Bladen 72-6t on Thursday in the
semifinals to qualify for Saturday's
title match.
Whiteville once again proved to be
the league’s best as tlie Wolfpack
wore down We.st Bnmswick 59-A3 and
won tlie right to join three other 2-A
teams in tills week's eastern regional
tuuriiciiiieiTt in Fayetteville.
The winner of the regional tourney
will advance to the state finals next
week in Chapel Hill.
Saturday's title match marked the
fourth time this season West
Brunswick liad met the Wolfpack.
Whiteville won both regular-season
games then edged the Trojans 63-55
in the second round of the league
tournament.
Whiteville was forced to win the
latest encounter with clutch free
throw shooting down the stretch as
West Brunswick sent the Wolfpack to
the stripe 23 times in the final
quarter. Whiteville made good on H
of the attempts including five of the
last seven in the final 1:12.
The loss ended the season for West
Brunswick 113-121 after a fourth-
place finish in the Waccamaw Con
ference.
Whiteville
The methodical spread offense
employed by the Trojans kept
Whiteville at bay during the first half
and early moments of the third
quarter before the Wolfpack muscled
their way out front for good.
West Brunswick took the early lead
3-0 on a trio of Chris Johnson free
throws while the Wolfpack managed
its first points with 6:18 to play in the
period on Joe Reaves' tayup. Reaves
scored eight of his 14 points in the
opening eight minutes as Whiteville
scored the final four points of the
quarter for a 12-9 lead.
A 5-0 spurt in the first 2; 30 of the sc
cond quarter lifted the Wolfpack to a
17-9 advantage that expanded to 25-16
with 3:03 left In the half.
West Brunswick rallied to pull
within 27-25 at the half with a 7-0 run
in the closing minute. A pair of
Ronald Lance baskets and a Chris
Johnson jumper and free throw
sparked the IVojans surge and left
the bigger Wolfpack frustrated at the
break.
The Trojans play in the first-half
hardly resembled that of a team that
lost its first four conference games of
the season during a December-
January stretch and struggled to
stay above the .500 level for much of
the year.
I aiw>’g layiin to starf the third
quarter brought the Trojans to 29-28
but it was the closest West Brunswick
could get in the final half.
Whiteville then outscored the Tro
jans 10-2 to take a 3030 lead and the
Wolfpack went on to a 44-33 spread at
the end of the quarter.
Heath Hewett scored the only
Wolfpack basket in the fourth
quarter converting on a three-point
play in the opening seconds of the
period to give Whiteville a 47-33 lead.
The Wolfpack went to the free
throw line 22 more times in the period
while hitting on 14 of the attempts
and held off a late West Bnmswick
charge.
Two quick baskets by Chris
Johnson and Lance and three
minutes to play brought the Trojans
within eight—51-43. However, West
Brunswick failed to score in the final
2:51 of the game and the Wolfpack
ran to their biggest lead at the final
buzzer.
Chris Johnson and Donnie Vans-
teen led West Brunswick with 10
points each while Lance added nine.
Scottie Logan scored 17 points to
pace Whiteville and Reaves followed
with 14. Chester McGlockton added
11 and Byron Shaw niiic tc aid the
Wolfpack.
Score By Quarters
West Brunswick 9 16 8 10—43
Whiteville 12 15 17 15-59
West Brunswick Scoring:
C.Johnson 10, Vansteen 10, Bryant 4,
Bernard 6, Mintz 1, K.Johnson 3,
1. ance9, J.Johnson, Timmy Bellamy.
Whiteville Scoring: Shaw 9, Nance
2, McGlockton 11,1,ogan 17, HewettS,
Reaves 14, Gore 1, Thomas, Sink.
East Bladen
West Brunswick defeated East
Bladen on the Cougars’ court for the
second time this season last Tliurs-
day as Chris Johnson scored a
career-high 33 points to lead the Tro
jans to a 72-64 semifinal win.
The Trojans had split the two
earlier regular-season games winn
ing at Elizabethtown while losing to
the Cougars in their league opener in
December.
This lime around West Bnmswick
relied on hot free throw .shooting (11
of 14) in the final period to take the
win after trailing 33-29 at the half.
Although finishing a disappointing
sixth in the Waccamaw Conference,
East Bladen rallied to advance to the
league tournament finals against
Whiteville two weeks ago and shock
ed Capital Area Conference cham
pion Bunn to advance to the sectional
semifinals.
The Cougars opened to a 13-6 lead
in the first quarter before West
Brunswick outscored East Bladen
23-20 in the second period to close to
within four points at the half.
The Trojans pulled even with East
Bladen in the third quarter, 45-45,
then outscored East Bladen 2.3-20 in
the second period to close to within
four points at the half.
Julian Johnson added la and
Ronald I.ance 13 to help spark the
Trojans.
Michael Cogcr scored 17 points to
lead East Bladen and Roderick Hall
followed with 14.
The loss ended the season for East
Bladen at 15-11.
Score By Quarters
West Brunswick 6 23 16 27—72
East Bladen 13 20 12 19-64
West Brunswick Scoring:
C.Johnson 33, J.Jolmson 15, Lance 13,
F.Johnson 6, Vansteen 2. Bryant 2,
Mintz 1.
East Bladen Scoring: Coger 17,
Hall 14, Creech 9, Campbell 6, King 5,
Bryant 6, Cromartie 2, Robinson 1.
JOHNSON DRIVES—Chris Johnson (with baU) drives
to the basket in the 2-A Sectional IH tiUe game last
Saturday. Host Whiteville went on to win 59-43 and end
ed the season for the Trojans. Defending on the play for
the Wolfpack Is Ken Nance (left) while West
Brunswick guard Julian Johnson (back) trails the
ptey.
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MOVE TO THE BASKET—West Brunswick’s Donnie
Vansteen (30) scores over Seattle Logan (20) of
Whiteville In Saturday’s 2-A Sectional IH champion
ship. Vansteen, along with guard Chris Johnson,
SIAfP FHOtO^ ET JOHNNY CAAlG
scored 10 points to lead the Trojans but Whiteville went
on to win 59-43 and advanced to the eastern rcglonnls In
Fayetteville.
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