Garner survives SE Raleigh rally to stay perfect in conference

Posted January 14, 2010 at 11:28 am and filed under GMHS, Sports.

By Chris Edwards
Citizen Journalist

They say when rivals get together, you can throw all the records out the window. That was true Friday, Jan. 8 as Garner hosted Southeast Raleigh High School.

The game was a battle of two teams who were going in opposing directions. The Bulldogs came into play on a losing skid, quickly losing ground in the conference race while Garner, after a sloppy showing at the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational, were still right in the middle of the Greater Neuse River Conference race as they came into play at a perfect 3-0.

As the game got underway, it seemed as though no one wanted to win; it took more than a minute for Garner to score the game’s first basket. But when they did, the flood gates were opened as Garner built a big first-half lead, thanks mainly to the physicality of SE Raleigh’s play. The Bulldogs committed seven team fouls before the first quarter was over, meaning Garner was shooting free throws for the entire second quarter. This helped Garner to a big 48-22 halftime lead.

Another key to the Trojans; first-half success was the play of Stephon Drane, who had a double-double at halftime with 15 points and 10 rebounds, which without question was the best first half performance for Drane and the entire Trojan team all year.

Another big key was Dominique Reed, who was playing his first career varsity game after being pulled up from the JV team, where he averaged a double-double on Head Coach Kent Blom’s squad. The 6-foot-4-inch sophomore contributed in a big way with six points and six rebounds in his debut for the varsity team.

But in the second half, the Trojans became complacent coming out of the locker room, thinking they had the game in the bag. To SE Raleigh’s credit, they never gave up and began a comeback that put them right back in the thick of the game, cutting the Garner lead to four points.

The Trojans had more experience on the floor, however, and forced SE Raleigh to play their type of game. With some clutch shots down the stretch, Garner came away with a hard-earned 68-60 win over the Bulldogs.

With the win, Garner is now 5-6 overall for the year and 4-0 in conference play. After the game, the Trojans learned that Knightdale High School had been defeated by West Johnston, which gave Garner sole possession of first place in the conference as they headed into a key stretch of conference action this week.

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