THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9602290110
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BARCO LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
When the Currituck County and Edenton-Holmes boys basketball teams met for the first time in December, the Knights blew a huge lead but scored at the buzzer to beat the Aces.
On Tuesday, Currituck wasn't as lucky.
The Knights once again jumped out to a 20-point lead, but this time it was an Edenton player who made the final shot. Marquis Boston banked in a jumper with five seconds to play as Edenton dumped Currituck 63-61 in the first round of the Northeastern Conference Boys Basketball Tournament.
It looked like a Currituck blowout for most of the game. After an Edenton timeout, Currituck's Jimmy Wright hit on a jumper with 2:22 to play in the third quarter to give the Knights a 50-30 lead.
``We had the fork stuck in us, and we were just about done,'' joked Edenton head coach Robert Woodley.
The Aces went on a 15-2 run the rest of the third quarter, including two 3-pointers by Boston, to cut the Currituck lead to 52-45 at the end of three quarters.
The Knights opened the lead back up to 10 points on a layup by Ken Simmons and a three-pointer by Jesse Jones with 6:17 to play. But the Aces countered with 10 straight points - six of them from Devon Coston on layups or tipins. Coston tipped in a bucket with 3:37 to play to tie the game at 57-57.
Currituck regained the lead when Simmons scored on a layup with 2:27 to play. Edenton tied the game again at 59-59 when Aaron Simpson grabbed an offensive rebound and banked a jumper with 2:07 to play.
With 26 seconds to play, Simmons scored on a running jumper to tie it at 61-61. Edenton called timeout with 26 seconds to play.
``I started to call a play, but then I let them create,'' Woodley said. ``We wanted to take the last shot of the ball game.''
Edenton worked the ball through Currituck's half-court pressure and with five seconds to play, Boston banked the ball off the glass from about 10 feet out for the win.
``We scored more baskets on turnovers, which had a snowball effect,'' Woodley said. ``During a timeout (in the third quarter), we talked about having the character and pride. Everybody stepped it up a notch. It wasn't pretty for about 24 minutes.''
Currituck head Coach Ruben Godfrey said some substitutions he made in the second half may have cost his team the game.
``We made some substitutions, and they (Edenton) got back in the game. The young kids turned the ball over at the end,'' Godfrey said. ``We made some mistakes, and they started shooting the ball well. Some decisions I made maybe weren't the right decisions.''
Woodley, whose team has no chance to make the 2A playoffs, was happy with the win, which extended their season by at least one game.
``We're very fortunate to play another day,'' he said. by CNB