By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

LAKE WACCAMAW – Before a “standing-room-only” crowd, the East Columbus Gators enjoyed one of their best basketball nights on record Friday, coming away with complete sweep of the visiting Whiteville Wolfpack.

The big ECHS win came in the girls game as the Lady Gators posted their first victory over Whiteville since 2002. By scoring 28 points in the final period, Coach Karlyn Stephens’ girls team pulled away to a 62-46 win.

The Whiteville girls, playing without senior point guard Talena Faison (sidelined with a severe ankle injury in last week’s game with North Brunswick) were handed their first Waccamaw Conference loss since the 2005 season.

The East Columbus boys team held off a stout Wolfpack effort to claim a 78-68 and claim its sixth straight conference win. The Gator boys now have a 15-3 record.

Earlier in the evening, East Columbus came away with wins in both the boys and girls junior varsity game.

The ECHS girls built a 27-20 halftime lead and carried a 34-29 lead into the final quarter. After Whiteville had cut the margin to three early in the fourth quarter, the Gator girls took control with a strong transitional game that fed off a persistent defensive effort.

“Defense is what we stressed all week,” said ECHS head coach Karlyn Stephens. “We wanted to be aggressive and keep constant pressure on the ball.”

Jasmine Young scored 20 points while Tauquanna Bress had 17 and T.T. Bennett had 13. The Lady Gators sank 16-of-21 attempts from the foul line as they put their record at 10-8, including a 4-2 Waccamaw Conference mark.

Without the experienced Faison, the Lady Wolfpack came completely unraveled in the game’s final six minutes.

“We didn’t handle the adversity well,” WHS coach Dudley Revels said. “Talena is a solid player but her absence shouldn’t have affected us like it did late in the game. You have to give East Columbus credit for the way they went after us. They really stepped it up in the fourth quarter.”

Paige McCallum scored 16 points for Whiteville and Portia Baldwin had 13. The WHS girls had won their last 23 games against Waccamaw Conference opposition.

The East Columbus boys maintained the lead for virtually the entire game but they were unable to shake off a series of WHS comeback surges until late in game.

Whiteville battled to within five points several times in the fourth quarter but East Columbus continued to answer with a big bucket of its own.

Gator senior guard Jerry Moore had one of the biggest nights of his career with 27 points. B.J. Patrick tallied 19 points and Jermaine Waddell had 14 (12 in the first half). The win extended the Gators’ current winning streak over the Wolfpack to five (since the start of last season).

Coach Clarence Ganus, whose Gators led 43-34 at the half, said he was pleased to see his team withstand a strong Whiteville effort.

“Whiteville is far better their record indicates,” Ganus said. “Every time it looked like we had gained some momentum, they came back with a big bucket or a stop. Both teams played hard.”

Whiteville fell to 1-6 in conference and 3-11 overall. It marks the first time since 1979 that the Wolfpack has had more than 10 losses in a season.

Eric Royal bucketed 17 points to lead Whiteville, followed by Nur Abdullah with 13 and Harrison Jordan and Aaron Clark with 11 points each.

East Columbus will play Tuesday at North Brunswick while Whiteville is scheduled to play host to Pender.

GIRLS GAME

WHITEVILLE (46): Gore 7, Turner 4, Williams 4, Drayton 2, McCallum 16, Baldwin 13

EAST COLUMBUS (62): Bress 17, Young 20, Bennett 13, Moore 4, Bracey 6, Edwards 2.

BOYS GAME

WHITEVILLE (68): Clark 11, Grant 9, Mahoney 7, Abdullah 13, Jordan 11, Royal 17.

EAST COLUMBUS (78): Clark 4, Freeman 6, Waddell 14, Patrick 19, Moore 27, Ganus 3, Fields 4.