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All Rocky Mount High: Gryphon girls, boys top Nash Central for first wins

Posted On: Friday, November 30, 2018
By: Student Assistant

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By SAMUEL EVERS

Sports Writer

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Call it first varsity-game jitters, testing the law of averages, or plain old bad shot selection — Nash Central coach Renny Taylor’s personal theory — but the Bulldogs boys’ basketball team, at home in their season opener on Tuesday night, couldn’t get much to fall.

They scrapped their way through a tough first half, trailing by only five against Rocky Mount High (1-0) entering the third quarter, but hit just one 3-pointer all night and 13 field goals in all en route to a 58-38 loss for the Bulldogs (0-1).

“We kept shooting, we kept shooting, but we couldn’t make anything,” Taylor said. “I guess the players were looking at it as the law of averages, that something might fall. It just never did. There are shots you take, that don’t go in, that are good shots. But we had guys who were 0-for-6, 0-for-7 from the 3-point line, still shooting 3s. They need to figure out — on this given night, I’m not hitting. I need to do something else.”

The good news? It was only the first contest in a long season, the team’s second in 2-A, in which new faces different from last year’s are dotting the bench.

“Well, you don’t want to lose every game to begin with, for sure,” Taylor said. “But you do know there’s a learning curve to it. We had guys out there today that had never played basketball. It showed. What we have to do, as coaches, is make sure they know what they’re supposed to do, what their responsibilities are. They’re doing that in practice, but crowd, lights, new team, that’s when it gets too fast for some of them.”

For the Bulldogs, Chris High led with seven points.

The challenge for the Gryphons, who used a 23-point third quarter to extend its halftime lead from five to 23 entering the fourth, was getting the newcomers from the football team up to speed. RMHS’s football season ended on Friday. Many of the players on Tuesday had only one practice to transition into basketball season.

“Those guys are just coming off the football field. They’ve got to get some reps. One day of practice, then coming to try and learn the system, it’s kind of tough,” coach Michael Gainey said. “Once we get them in shape, make them understand we’ve got to utilize our size, we’ll be OK.”

Among the gridiron-to-hardwood players was 6-foot-5 sophomore Keeshawn Silver, someone who Gainey gave playing time to last year as a freshman, consistently imploring him to use his height. Tuesday was no different, and Silver took advantage, finishing with two dunks, three blocks and and 13 points, including seven in that important third quarter.

“He’s a football guy. He had some football camps, that’s where he was during the summer,” Gainey said. “So I’ve got to get what I can out of him while he’s here and while we play.”

Two freshmen were on the opening night roster for the Gryphons — Jahsun Ward and Isaiah Miller. Both played and scored, including the final two buckets of the game for Ward.

The Gryphons have eight seniors on the roster in all this season, including Deonte Gray, the fearless 5-foot-5 point guard who led the offense while scoring six points and dishing out three assists on Tuesday night.

“That’s my boy,” Gainey said. “He’s the coach on the floor. He can take the criticism and he can get on me when I deserve it.”

Girls

Rocky Mount High 47, Nash Central 29

Two-and-a-half games into her team’s season, coach Pam Gainey finally saw in her Gryphons a little bit of what she had been preaching over the last month.

Tied at 21 entering the third quarter on Tuesday night at Nash Central, the Rocky Mount High girls’ team put together its best quarter of the season, flowing on offense while allowing no Bulldog field goals on defense to win the quarter, 22-1, outscoring their own first half total in eight minutes.

The Gryphons (1-2) eventually won their non-conference matchup against host Nash Central (0-1), 47-29 — their first win in three tries, while a young Bulldogs team dropped its first game of the season.

“I’m trying to emphasize that they need to play more together,” Gainey said. “Earlier in the season we seemed to be just watching. Everybody wasn’t sure of what they were doing. That’s a mindset that’s got to change. They’ve got to study, know what they’re doing, then have confidence in doing it.”

The leading scorer for Rocky Mount High was Mya Pittman with 16, a varsity player since freshman year who Gainey said will have to play a big role in any success this year.

“This is her senior year — she has played significantly since she was a ninth grader,” Gainey said. “So it’s time, it’s time. She’s got to do a bit more focusing on what we’re doing.”

For the Bulldogs, who scored 13 points in the first quarter but only 16 the rest of the way, Ashanti Anstead led with seven points.

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