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| East Columbus forward Jim Freeman (right) gets his hand on the ball while hovering over South Brunswick’s A.J. Ferguson in Friday night’s Waccamaw Basketball Tournament championship game. East Columbus won 54-45. Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist |
for tourney crown
By DAN BISER
Sports Editor
LAKE WACCAMAW – East Columbus guard Jerry Moore found his shooting touch just in time and teammate Anthony Fields came off the bench in the fourth quarter to fire in two huge 3-point baskets Friday night.
By opening the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run, the Gators overtook the South Brunswick Cougars 54-45 for their second straight Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference Basketball Tournament championship.
East Columbus, now with a 21-5 record, had trailed by seven points late in the third quarter before Moore drilled a 3-point at the buzzer to cut the Cougar lead to 38-34.
“That was a huge shot,” said ECHS coach Clarence Ganus, whose squad also won the conference regular-season title for the second straight year, “and then getting the two big shots by Anthony early in the fourth quarter really gave us the momentum we had been looking for.”
Moore, who scored a game-high 21 points, said that the Gators did not play with a lot of intensity through the first three quarters. South Brunswick led 26-25 at the half.
East Columbus played much of the game without starting center Jermaine Waddell, who hit his head when he fell hard to the floor beneath the basket in the first half.
“We couldn’t get some shots to fall, and we weren’t doing a good job rebounding,” Moore said. “The big thing we talked about at halftime was getting on the boards.”
Senior B.J. Patrick, who finished with 11 points, said the Gators were much more patient than they had been in their recent loss to the upstart South Brunswick team.”
“We knew that if we kept playing hard on defense and took care of the ball that the points would come,” Patrick said. “It all kind of came together in the fourth quarter.”
South Brunswick, coming off a five-game winning streak, was held to seven points in the final quarter.
“We missed some easy shots in the fourth quarter and East Columbus started hitting all their shots,” said SBHS head coach Dan McGougan, who has coached the Cougars to their best season since 1993 while starting two sophomores and a freshman. “It’s a disappointing loss, but our kids have come a long way this season, and we’re pleased that.”
Ryan Waldrep, whose rebounding was a big factor in the first half, led the Cougars with 12 points. Ervin Hall followed with 11 for SBHS, whose season record stands at 18-8.
East Columbus will open state 1A playoff action tonight at 7 when it is scheduled to entertain North Duplin.
South Brunswick will play host to Clinton Tuesday night at 8 in the opening round of the state 2A playoffs.
| S. Brunswick |
9
|
17
|
12
|
7
|
-
|
45
|
| E. Columbus |
20
|
25
|
9
|
20
|
-
|
54
|
SOUTH BRUNSWICK (45): Randolph 2, McNeil 3, Moore 4, Hall 11, Hines 7, Ferguson 6, Waldrep 12.
EAST COLUMBUS (54): Clark 4, Freeman 6, Waddell 4, Patrick 11, Moore 21, Fields 8.