CHHS cagers sweep Northwest

LITTLETON -- Corinth Holders' basketball teams swept Northwest Halifax in Northern Carolina 2-A Conference action on Friday night.

The Pirate boys suffered through what coach Chris Davis called a lackluster effort in winning 51-48, while the girls earned their second win of the season, 44-35.

In the boys' game, Corinth Holders (9-1 NCC, 15-4 overall) almost learned a hard lesson when you develop a winning program - a target is placed squarely on your back.

"We beat them by 16 points at our place," Davis said. "We won tonight, but if we had played anybody else, we would have lost. We absolutely went through the motions and didn't even attempt an offensive rebound in the first half at all. We were letting people drive to the basket.

"I definitely thought tonight was a trap game, no doubt about it. I honestly think that's been our problem the last three (conference) games. They had their minds on that Clayton game (which ended up being a 59-44 loss) and with weird practices schedules due to exams, we hadn't had any flow or continuity."

Northwest took a 13-9 lead after one quarter and held a 28-23 lead at halftime.

Corinth outscored the home team 13-8 in the third quarter and 15-12 in the fourth to pull out the victory.

Leading the second-half charge for the Pirates was the tandem of Ki-yon Walden and Klilah Cox. Walden had 17 points - nine in the second half - and grabbed several key offensive rebounds. Cox provided 15 points - nine in the fourth period, including a 3-pointer.

"The run we made in the third period was really keyed by Ki-yon on the offensive glass," Davis said. "We didn't even attempt an offensive rebound in the first half and he came out with determination that he was going to get some offensive boards. Two of his four baskets in the second half were direct follow shots."

The Pirates gained the lead in the fourth quarter and Northwest resorted to fouling. Corinth struggled at the foul line, making just 10 of 25 for the game - including 4 for 11 in the final eight minutes.

"We did not do a good job there," Davis said. "If we had made our free throws, it wouldn't have been close. For a team that's supposed to be a good shooting team like we are, you're not supposed to go 10-for-25 from the free throw line."

The Pirates' coach is hoping that this game will be a wake-up call if Corinth expects to win a conference championship. CHHS has games left against Franklinton, Roanoke Rapids and Louisburg before wrapping up the regular season at Bunn. If the Pirates win the first three games, the contest against Bunn would be for a share of the league championship.

"I am surely hoping this is a wake-up call," Davis said. "We can't go through the last four games of the season playing we way we played tonight and expect to meet with success. For us to control our own destiny to win a conference championship, we've got to win out because we can't count on Bunn losing. We can't think about only the Bunn game, we have to play the three before we get there. These teams we played the first time are playing better now. If we play lethargic and not interested like we did tonight, they're going to be dogfights.

'We've got a mark on our backs now. It's not like we were underdogs - we're getting everybody else's best shot. We can't go into games with a lack of emotion knowing that these teams are out for us."

After a low-scoring result (22-15 win) the first time, the Corinth Holders played better offensively and swept the season series from Northwest. The Pirates improved to 2-8 in the conference and 2-17 overall.