Kristen Roberts Propels a 54-40 Southern Win; Western Boys Win Overtime Battle 65-63 – Wyatt Smith Reporting

GIRLS GAME

1st:   SG 9  WG 4

2nd:  SG 26  WG 15

3rd:  SG 38  WG  26

4th:  SG 54  WG  40

The Southern Guilford Lady Storm beat the Lady Hornets 54-40 on Friday night at Western Guilford High School. The Storm jumped on gas early defensively and never let off. The hot hands of Kristen Roberts led the Southern offense, especially from three point land.

Roberts had 5 threes in the 12 minutes of first half alone, and led all scorers with 26 points..

With the win, the Lady Storm improved to (7-8) overall on the season and (2-3) in conference play. Western Guilford,s Lady Hornets are (1-13) overall and (0-5) in conference play.


WESTERN SCORING LEADERS:

Tikita Urey: 12 pts

Jamaya Blanks: 10 pts

SOUTHERN SCORING LEADERS:

Kristin Roberts: 21 pts

Ariyah Wheless: 11 pts


BOYS GAME

The Western Guilford Hornets pulled off an overtime thriller, in large part due to eight points scored by Demetrius Butler, in a 65-63 victory over the Southern Guilford Storm on Friday night.

The Hornets opened the first quarter “flat”, in head coach Jerrod Harris’s words. Harris believed the recent break from last weekend’s snow may have been the cause. Whatever the cause, the visiting Storm dominated the first quarter of play. Western Guilford spent more than three minutes stuck at 5 points before their final basket of the quarter was made by senior David Young with just over 16 seconds to play in the opening eight minutes. Southern Guilford’s lead was 21-7 when the horn sounded at the end of the first stanza.

The Storm kept the pressure, but Western’s offense began to pick up the pace. Although the Hornets trailed by as many as 18 points, they had decreased their opponent’s lead to just eight at the end of the first half.

The Hornets trailed by the same margin, eight points, after the third quarter, but the Storm began struggling to score in the second half of the third, a struggle that would plague them the rest of the game.

The last quarter was intense, as the home team pulled closer and closer to the lead. The teams traded early baskets, and Western finally tied the Storm around the midway point of the fourth quarter. Neither team gained more than a three point lead from that point forward, and it was two free throws by Demetrius Butler with 16.7 seconds left in the game that sent the battle to overtime.

The teams knotted at 53. An additional four minutes would be needed to determine the outcome of this battle.

The teams traded baskets early in the overtime period. Western then notched two buckets that were negated when the Storm went on an 8-0 run, putting them up by 4. The final three baskets of the game were all from the hands of none other than Demetrius Butler. After Butler’s second basket in a row, he stole an in-bounds pass from Southern under their basket and laid in the game winning shot with less than six seconds remaining.

The Storm called a quick timeout to draw up the game’s final play, but Western would hold off the Storm and gain a well-earned and exciting victory.

“I’m real proud of our guys how they stuck together and didn’t give up,” Western head coach Jerrod Harris said.

The Hornet’s hero, Butler, said, “We knew the fourth quarter was now or never and our defense really engaged.

“I haven’t really played in a while,” he continued. “I was on the bench trying to keep the energy up and when I came in the game. I knew I had to keep the energy at a high level with steals and doing what we had to do to win the game.”

The inside play was critical, Harris said.

“The key for us was, second half, we got more points in the paint. We finished with 38 points in the paint and that was real big. We’re much more effective if we can keep the ball inside and not have to settle for threes.”

Western Guilford improved to .500 on the season with the victory on be Storm – (7,7) – and their conference records improved to (2-1). The Storm is now (6-9) overall and (2-3) in conference play.


SOUTHERN SCORING LEADERS:

Garren Dearman: 19 pts

Tyler Dearman: 18 pts

 

WESTERN SCORING LEADERS:

David Young: 23 pts

Raekwon Dean: 12 pts