Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Wolverines rally past Pride

With the waning seconds of Friday’s game ticking away and Leesville Road down 66-64, the 3-point attempt from the Pride’s Sanders Rohs swirled out of the bucket on a shot that could have just as easily gone in.

A fitting end to a back-and-forth game, visiting Wakefield grabbed the rebound and Leesville Road committed the quick foul, putting Chris Peebles at the free-throw line with 4.3 seconds left.

Peebles made both shots, securing the Wolverines’ 68-64 win that pushed Wakefield’s overall record to 11-6 and its Cap Eight 4-A conference record to 5-5.

The nail-biting finish mirrored what had gone on the previous 31 minutes.

Wakefield had to rally from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and did it with 16 free throw opportunities in the fourth quarter. After a rocky 1-4 start from the foul line to begin the final quarter, Wakefield made eight of its last 12.

But none were bigger than the final two.

“I thought Chris came in did a really good job, brought us a lot of energy,” Wakefield coach Dexter Cooley said of Peebles, who scored six points off the bench. “Those two free throws were big and he just gave our defense something extra.”

Leading the way for the Wolverines on Friday night was Nick Lenox, who scored 16 points, including eight in the final quarter.

After the game, Lenox praised the bench for their defense and rebound contributions.

“They brought a lot of intensity to the game,” he said.

The Wolverines led by as many as eight in the first quarter, but Leesville Road (7-10, 4-6) would quickly close the gap, narrowing it to 20-20 with less than minute gone by in the second quarter and taking its first lead about five minutes later.

The Wolverines and Pride went back and forth from there on out, until Leesville Road eventually pushed out to a seven-point lead with 7:04 left. But the Wolverines closed the game on a 20-9 run, getting nine of those 20 points from the free-throw line.

Leesville Road coach Roderic Brewington knew his Pride lost the game at the free-throw line.

“They show 16 free throws in the fourth quarter alone and we shot seven,” Brewington said. “I think that that was big as far as keeping them scoring. “(When) it gets really tight in the fourth quarter, possessions become important.”

Other boys

Heritage tops Eagles: Wake Forest Heritage’s Danny Ligowski scored 19 points in the Huskies 49-41 Cap Eight 4A win over Enloe.

Ravens fly: Madison Jones scored 16 points as No. 6 Ravenscroft beat Durham Academy 67-22.

Corlew gets 29: Raleigh Christian’s Taylor Corlew scored 29 points in an 80-56 win over Greenville Christian.

Clayton tops Southeast: Gary Clark and Anthony Gaskins each scored 14 points for the Comets in a 45-41 Greater Neuse win over Southeast Raleigh.

Girls

Millbrook stays on top: Millbrook, No. 1 in the N&O, steadily pulled away from Sanderson for a 63-40 Cap Eight 4A win. Briana Day helped the Wildcats climb to 18-2. Derricka Lewis scored 15 for Sanderson.

Smith leads Tigers: Jamelia Smith scored 24 points to lead No. 7 Chapel Hill (17-2) to a 65-58 win over Cardinal Gibbons.

Enloe starts fast: Enloe scored 42 points in the first half of a 64-42 Cap Eight 4-A win over Heritage. Nakhyla Powell led the Eagles with 17 points.

One woman show: Cary Academy’s Mickayla Sanders almost out-scored North Raleigh Christian in a 55-25 win over North Raleigh Christian. Sanders, who averages 23.7 points, finished with 23.

Staff writer Tim Stevens contributed to this report.