Rocky Mount boys beat Nash Central for second straight upset victory

Telegram photo / Abbi O’Leary
Rocky Mount’s Artavious Richardson, left, goes in for a layup as Nash Central’s Keshun Peoples attempts a block during their game Friday at Rocky Mount High School.

Telegram photo / Abbi O’Leary / Sports Writer
Rocky Mount’s Jamar Ellis, right, drives the ball to the basket as Nash Central’s Keshun Peoples defends him during their game Friday at Rocky Mount High School.

Telegram photo / Abbi O’Leary / Sports Writer
Nash Central’s Caresha Leonard, right, blocks Rocky Mount’s Keyanna Spivey’s shot during their game Friday at Rocky Mount High School.

After an 0-13 start, Rocky Mount High needed to change something – anything – about the way it was practicing and playing.

So Gryphons coach Mike Gainey upped the intensity in practice, bringing the junior varsity in for near-daily scrimmages to bring more energy.

And while it may not be prudent to practice like that every day, the strategy has jump-started Rocky Mount High.

Three weeks to the day after losing by 34 at Nash Central, Rocky Mount High looked like a completely new team in beating the Bulldogs, 71-61, for a second victory in three days.

“These guys, they’re hungry, and once they got the first win, then it was a matter of time before they got more,” Gainey said. “It says a lot about these kids to keep fighting every day when all they had seen this year was losing.”

The Gryphons (2-13 overall, 2-3 Big East) had played well in the first quarter of the 81-47 loss at Nash Central (9-9, 3-2) on January 8, but once Bulldogs guards Elijah Cole and Ke-Shun Peoples found the open floor in the second half, Rocky Mount High had no answer.

But Friday, Nash Central never could find its shooting stroke.

“We just didn’t hit shots,” Bulldogs coach Renny Taylor said. “Nothing was falling. It’s not like we had bad looks, because they were so focused on Josh (Mullins).”

Cole, Peoples and Mullins combined for 43 of the Bulldogs’ 61, but Rocky Mount High never let Nash Central get out in transition and run.

“We knew coming in that (Mullins) was going to be locked down, and it was just a question if we could do better against (Cole),” Rocky Mount High guard Spencer Ramsey said.

Ramsey said the Gryphons went to a triangle-and-two defense to defend Mullins and Cole, who poured in 26 points in the first meeting.

And yet, despite Rocky Mount High’s best shot, Nash Central led by one at halftime.

But the Gryphons opened the third quarter on a 16-8 run, fueled by six quick points from Artavious Richardson and capped by an easy layup from Ramsey.

Ramsey scored 13 of his team-high 18 in the second half, including a trio of corner 3-pointers that awoke the crowd at Rocky Mount High. Ramsey’s triple at the 3:13 mark of the fourth quarter gave Rocky Mount High a 67-56 lead that it would not relinquish.

“They just said keep looking for my shot, and to keep shooting it,” Ramsey said.

Gainey said the return of Richardson and Sherrod Greene, two key members of Rocky Mount High’s state-championship winning football team, has helped infuse new life into the Gryphons and added some needed toughness inside.

“Those two guys, they have everybody believing in each other,” Gainey said. “They bring that state champion mentality to practice every day, where everybody is fighting for everything.”

Richardson and Greene combined for 17, and Latrell Daniels added 12 of his own to give Rocky Mount High a scoring presence in the paint it has been so sorely lacking.

“There’s more confidence with all these guys now that we got our first win,” Greene said.

Nash Central missed out Friday on a big chance to build a lead in the Big East. The Bulldogs entered 3-1, and with every other team in the conference having two losses, Nash Central was in position to be the clear favorite entering the second half of the conference season.

“Couldn’t get it done tonight,” Taylor said. “It happens.”

GIRLSNASH CENTRAL 59RM HIGH 52Three weeks ago, Nash Central raced to a big lead and held on to beat Rocky Mount High.

On Friday, the Bulldogs trailed for much of the early-going, but huge fourth quarters from Myia Spivey and Robbi Allen helped Nash Central beat the Gryphons (9-6 overall, 2-3 Big East) again.

Spivey scored 12 of her team-high 18 in the fourth quarter, and Allen added six huge points as the Bulldogs pulled away late for a 59-52 win.

“Never going to be easy when you play (Rocky Mount),” Nash Central (15-3, 4-1) coach Terri Cash said. “They hit some shots on us early and got out to the kind of start we did against them (last time). But we kept fighting.”

Nash Central led by one after three but opened the fourth quarter on a quick 7-0 run in the first 1:29 for all the cushion it would need.

BOYS

GIRLS

By FOSTER LANDER

Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Friday, January 29, 2016