Not pretty, but Gryphons win third straight game

Rocky Mount High missed free throws and layups and got little production from behind the 3-point line.

The Gryphons turned over the ball and enjoyed little in the way of an offensive rhythm all night.

At times, Rocky Mount High’s game Tuesday night against Wilson Hunt felt like a football game – physical and foul-filled. And, fittingly for a school coming off a 3-A football state championship in December, Rocky Mount High got the better of Tuesday’s matchup, a 44-37 Gryphons victory over visiting Hunt.

Artavious Richardson and Sherrod Greene – two crucial members of the Gryphons’ football title-winning squad – led Rocky Mount High with eight points apiece.

“That was one of those games where we had to tough it out,” Gryphons coach Mike Gainey said. “Couldn’t make a free throw, but we played really hard and played good, hard defense all night, and that’s what we have to do.”

Rocky Mount High (3-13 overall, 3-3 Big East) made just 2 of its 14 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, but Hunt (8-12, 3-4) didn’t fare much better: the Warriors shot 3-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second half.

“I could tell in our warmup at halftime (of the girls’ game) that we were lackadaisical,” Gainey said. “Sometimes you win two games and think you’ve made it, when you haven’t at all. We weren’t always focused (Tuesday).”

Hunt started Tuesday’s game on an 11-2 run, but the Gryphons answered with a 10-0 run, capped by a corner three from sophomore Rodney Alston, to climb right back in it early.

Kyle Barnhill drained a tough, hanging layup to end the first half and give Rocky Mount High a 23-19 lead at the break.

Barnhill was tasked with face-guarding Hunt guard Shemar Hudson and denying the Warriors’ lithe point guard the ball all night. Gainey said Hudson burned the Gryphons in the first half of the teams’ previous meeting, a 68-56 Warriors win, but once Rocky Mount High shifted its defensive strategy in that game, the score evened out.

Hudson managed just two points on Tuesday, even as Barnhill got in foul trouble and other Gryphons – Spencer Ramsey, notably – rotated to shadow him all over the floor.

“Those guys did a great job of not letting him get it and keeping him out of the paint,” Richardson said. “(Hunt) really didn’t have anybody else to hurt us.”

Richardson made a living on the offensive glass, and Gainey said the Gryphons’ toughness on the boards – despite Hunt’s length – helped compensate for their shooting woes.

GIRLS

RM HIGH 74

WILSON HUNT 42Keyanna Spivey was the biggest player on the floor Tuesday night, and she played like it.

Rocky Mount High’s junior forward scored 35 points, on a variety of layups, putbacks, and mid-range jumpers, and complemented her performance from the field by going 13-of-15 from the free-throw line to help the Gryphons romp past Wilson Hunt, 74-42.

Shelby Meeks added nine and Michelle Gainey scored eight for Rocky Mount High (10-6 overall, 3-3 Big East).

The Gryphons, who had shot the ball well from 3-point range in recent games, struggled from deep as Hunt (3-16, 1-6) closed down the shooting windows of Gainey, Meeks and Mya Pittman. That left plenty of room for Spivey to work inside against an undersized Warriors team, and she took full advantage.

Rocky Mount High led, 23-8, after one quarter, but Hunt closed the first half on a 14-2 run to pull within 10.

Nikita Pitt banked in a 3-pointer for Hunt to draw within seven early in the third quarter, but the Gryphons pulled away for good with a 15-1 run later in the period.

BOYS
Rocky Mount High 44
Wilson Hunt 37
WH 14 5 5 12 – 37
RMH 14 9 9 12 – 44
WH: Dejuan Hill 16; Michael Ellis 5; Rashad Shipman 4; KJ Jones 3; Shemar Hudson 2.
RMH: Artavious Richardson 8; Sherrod Greene 8; Kyle Barnhill 6; Rodney Alston 6; Isaiah Morris 5; Spencer Ramsey 4; Juwan Jones 1.

GIRLS
Rocky Mount High 74
Wilson Hunt 42
WH 8 16 6 12 – 42
RMH 23 11 19 21 – 74
WH: Shawnteya McNair 9; Kayla Kent 8; Destinee Pierce 7; Nikita Pitt 6; Eboni Abdus-Samad 6; Tatiana Smith 6.
RMH: Keyanna Spivey 35; Shelby Meeks 9; Michelle Gainey 8; Ashley Hatfield 5; Mya Pittman 5; Jarneese Carey 4; Teyanna Dessure 2; Raiche Deloach 2; Natalya Cannie 2; Zi’Asia Hines 2.

By FOSTER LANDER

Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Tuesday, February 2, 2016