Wayne County defeats South Laurel 57-55

By SHANNON HUTCHINSON

Sports Writer

The Wayne County Cardinals hosted South Laurel last Friday night at Cardinal Gym. Wayne County, ranked 12th in the latest Associated Press poll, entered with a 10-2 record, while South owned the #15 ranking and an impressive seven game winning streak with an 11-3 overall mark. The contest marked the 17th meeting between the 12th Region rivals, with the local Cards claiming a 74-60 win at South in January of 2002, in their last match-up.

Junior guard Jerrod Gibbons scored 12 of his game high 22 points in the decisive

Seth Frost drove around a South Laurel defender on his way to the basket late in Friday’s game. Photo by Duchess Sloan

 fourth quarter, including a contested jumper in the lane with under four seconds to play, to lift Wayne County to a 57-55 win. The homestanding Cards added a tremendous defensive stop in the end, as a South Laurel 3-point attempt failed at the buzzer, to seal Wayne’s 28th straight home win.

"Jerrod Gibbons is a great shooter and his play down the stretch was just unbelievable. He made some big plays with some huge drives and once again didn’t miss from the free throw line," said Cards head coach Rodney Woods.

The head coach was also pleased with the way his team defended the final play.

"I thought we really did a good job defensively at the end of the game of denying the ball to Rivera. They couldn’t get him the ball on their inbounds play and we forced them into a tough shot. I think anytime you play close ball games you learn and it’s always nicer to learn from wins, instead of losses," said Woods.

Gibbons finished 6 of 11 from the field and a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line, plus added 5 rebounds, as Wayne County improved to 11-2.

Junior forward Tyrone Green added 15 points with 9 rebounds, while Steven Sexton totaled 11 points and 5 boards, as the winners placed three scorers in double digits. Green finished 6 of 11 from the field, while Sexton converted on only 4 of 14 attempts.

"For some reason we’re struggling a bit shooting the ball at home. I do think that maybe we’re a bit too pumped-up before the games. I think with Steven we need him to relax a little bit and just let the game come to him, which should help," said Woods

South Laurel, which dropped to 11-4, was led by the 16 points and 9 rebounds of freshman center Walt Allen. Allen finished an impressive 8 of 9 from the field, while newcomers Johan Rivera and Kevin Collins tallied 10 points each. Rivera added 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Collins contributed 6 boards.

South owned a 38-27 rebound advantage, led by the game high 13 boards of forward Mark Parsons. Parsons contributed 8 points, as six different visitors scored in the game.

"I think this was an important game, but I feel all games are certainly important. South won their tournament and beat some very good teams in the process, so a lot of people thought maybe they’re the team to beat in the region. I think the win maybe makes us still the team to beat. I do know it’s good to see how we stack up against the better teams in our region. Obviously if we were to play again the stakes would be much higher," said Woods.

Tyrone Green led all scorers with 7 first quarter points, as Wayne County battled to a 15-14 lead, at the end of the opening frame. Wayne County was 5 of 13 from the field in the period, while South managed to connect on 6 of 15 attempts.

Cardinal Steven Sexton checked the scoreboard as he handled the basketball Friday night.           Photo by Duchess Sloan

The local Cards pushed the lead out to as much as 8 points, before South rallied to close the gap to 28-23 at halftime. Four different hosts scored in the second stanza, while the visitors were just 2 of 6 from the field, in the frame.

"We had a couple of chances to push the lead out to double digits, but missed some easy shots and you just cannot afford to do that against good teams," said Woods.

Johan Rivera exploded for 8 of his 10 points in the third quarter, as South shot 50 percent in the second half and claimed a 40-38 third period advantage. Wayne County made just 5 of 17 shots in the quarter and was outscored 17-10.

The Cards’ tandem of Jerrod Gibbons and Seth Frost combined for 17 of Wayne County’s 19 fourth quarter points, as the squad used a 19-15 period advantage en route to a 57-55 win. Frost, a 6-2 junior reserve, scored 5 points, all in the final frame and earned the praise of the head coach.

"Seth Frost came up big in the fourth quarter. He’s struggled some of late and been in the doghouse, but he played like he’s capable in this game. We want him to play the best he can and in this game I thought he took a big step, especially on the offensive end," said Woods.

Brad Bell tallied 4 points, to round-out the five hosts in the scoring column. The win improved Wayne County to 9-8 against South Laurel and extended their school record home winning streak to 28 games.

"I hadn’t really thought about our home streak, or that it couldn’t end in this game. Maybe the kids did, I’m not sure," said Woods.

South Laurel finished 21 of 48 overall for 44 percent, but made only 3 of 14 3-pointers for 21 percent. The squad connected on 10 of 17 free throws for 59 percent and totaled 9 assists, compared to 13 turnovers.

Wayne County shot 20 of 49 overall for 41 percent and made 5 of 16 3-pointers for 31 percent. The winners drained 12 of 16 free throws for 75 percent and totaled 9 assists with 9 turnovers.

Up next for the 11-2 Cards is a Tuesday night district match-up at crosstown foe Monticello. The squad wraps up the week on the road at Corbin, on Friday night. The coach feels rest is a real key for his squad.

"I think we’ve been ready to play both games this past week mentally, but I’m not sure we’ve recovered from our five games in five days physically. We are going to take a couple of days off to try to get our legs back under us and then get back to work," stated Woods.

Details on both games in next week’s Outlook.

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