La GRANGE — North Lenoir carved out a big lead early only to see the Jaguars come roaring back. Despite leading by double digits in the third quarter, the Hawks fell 53-49 to Farmville Central Tuesday night.
“I thought the kids played hard on defense,” NL coach Anthony Loftin said. “We just couldn’t hit a shot when we needed to.”
It felt like the Hawks (3-5) couldn’t miss in the first half, as North Lenoir shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field in the half. That included a 14-0 second-quarter run in which the team hit seven of 10 shots, including three of five from 3-point range.
The offensive spurt put the Hawks up 29-21 after trailing by four at the end of the first quarter. North Lenoir’s biggest lead of the night came on a long 3-pointer by Jauquaz Jones that gave his team a 42-31 lead with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Jones led all scorers with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and was the only NL player to reach double figures. Luke Jackson tallied nine points for the Hawks, while Javonta King added eight.
However, Jones’ trifecta would be North Lenoir’s last points for more than five minutes as the Jaguars switched to a zone defense to prevent the Hawks from attacking the rim.
“It’s all about ball movement,” Loftin said. “When Farmville went to the zone, we had to shoot jump shots over them.”
The Jaguars chipped away at the deficit, and a Shaft Parker bucket with 1:19 left in the quarter pulled Farmville Central within two at 42-40. NL’s Orlando Cannon finally broke the Hawks’ drought with 2.5 seconds left to put his team ahead, 44-40, as the Hawks entered the fourth quarter.
The last period was more of the same for North Lenoir, who hit only two of 17 shots in the final period, including an abysmal 1-of-11 from 3-point range.
“We didn’t move the ball good enough in the second half,” Loftin said. “We took too many contested, forced 3’s instead of running our offense.”
Meanwhile, a Steve McCabe free throw with 4:49 to play gave the Jaguars their first lead since nearly the six-minute mark in the first half, a lead Farmville would not relinquish for the rest of the night. Farmville Central’s Ikeesta Johnson led his team with a double-double, contributing 15 points and 13 rebounds in a winning effort. Keyshaw Pitt also reached double figures with 13 points.
The Hawks remained within striking distance for the final minutes but could not hit the big shot when they needed it. Conversely, the Jaguars were clutch down the stretch. They sank five of six free throws in the fourth, including both ends of a one-and-one with 1.9 seconds left to go up by four and seal the victory.
Girls’ game
North Lenoir squandered a double-digit lead and lost by two at Farmville Central earlier this month.
The Hawks weren’t about to let history repeat itself Tuesday night in La Grange. North Lenoir (2-6) shut out the visiting Jaguars 19-0 in the first quarter and never looked back, cruising to a 52-25 non-conference win.
“I thought we were where we needed to be tonight,” NL coach Calvin Sutton said. “We wanted to come out and take it to the other team with all we had. I thought we did a good job on the defensive end with both our intensity and effort – effort being the key word.”
The Hawks, playing with point guard Erica Lee for the first time in a week, were extraordinarily balanced on offense. Nine of 11 girls who suited up scored for North Lenoir, yet no player reached double figures.
“It was good to get her back today,” Sutton said of Lee.
Quoya Porter led all scorers with nine points, followed by Lee with eight and Alyssa Borja with seven. Four other players had at least five points. The Hawks extended their lead every quarter, leading 28-8 at the half and 39-18 after three quarters of play.
“It was a close game at Farmville,” Sutton said. “We were up 14 or 16 points at their place, but we couldn’t finish. We got complacent, and I think we learned from that. We grew from that.”
Boys
FARMVILLE CENTRAL 53, NORTH LENOIR 49
FC 19 7 14 13 —53
NL 15 17 12 5 — 49
FC scoring: Ikeesta Johnson 15, Keyshaw Pitt 13, Phillips 9, Jones 4, Smith 4, Parker 4, McCabe 3, Dickens 1.
NL scoring: Jauqaz Jones 17, Jackson 9, King 8, Cannon 6, Mason 4, Letchworth 3, Robinson 2.
Girls
NORTH LENOIR 52, FARMVILLE CENTRAL 25
FC 0 8 10 7 -- 25
NL 19 9 11 13 -- 52
FC scoring: Blackmore 8, Foster 5, Rodgers 5, Pitt 4, Pender 2, Barrett 1.
NL scoring:Porter 9, Lee 8, Borja 7, Kremer 6, Murray 6, Haerer 6, Best 5, Goodall 3, Ballen 2.