Lady Rams Falls in Opener! Boys' Wins!

November 20, 2009

Purnell Swett High School

By Edward Greene-Hope Mills

 The Purnell Swett girls' basketball team fell in its season-opener Thursday 70-36 against South View.

Rachel Temple had 18 points and eight steals for the Tigers. Kayla Lewis scored 16 for the Rams and Lalla Kenworthy added eight points.

Swett coach Angela Faulkner said there are many areas her team needs to improve in if they want to get better.

"Weak side rebounding and turnovers hurt us, so hopefully we can work on that."

The Rams look to rebound against South Robeson tonight.

Rams rally in opener

HOPE MILLS - The Purnell Swett boys' basketball team fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit Thursday to beat South View 67-63 and gave coach James Williams his first win as a Ram.

After a wild final minute of the third quarter that saw multiple turnovers by each side, Purnell Swett's Zack Locklear buried his third three-pointer of the night to cut the South View lead to 49-46 going into the fourth quarter.

The Rams (1-0) kept pushing, and a Mike Bullard three tied the game at 49 followed by a Chandler Chavis layup gave Swett their first lead since the first quarter.

Coach Williams felt a change in defensive scheme helped his team make the big comeback.

"We went from man to zone and they played solid defense," Williams said. "They (South View) had 40 in the first half and nine in the third quarter, so we played some good defense."

The Rams had built the lead to 58-51 when South View's T.J. Gill contected on a three to bring the lead down to four.Ram guard Juwan Jones took over for his team down the stretch and scored four straight points to increase the lead to 64-57.

The Tigers cut it to 64-61 with an Amonte Banks lay-in and had the ball with a chance to tie, but a Kalen Eddings steal and two free throws by Jones sealed the win.

South View coach Nathan Faulk felt that his team lost focus in the second half, giving Swett a chance to make a comeback.

"We lost our composure in the third quarter," Faulk said, "and we've got to figure out how to come out in the second half and keep the same aggressiveness."

Thanks to some hot shooting by Rian Holland for South View, the Tigers took a 21-14 lead into the end of the first quarter.

Swett closed it to a five-point margin midway through the second quarter, but Gill responded with a three and then a quick steal for a breakaway layup to push the lead to 10. The lead would stay at 10 going into the half with the Tigers up 40-30.

Swett started the second half on a quick five-point run to cut the lead in half. Later in the quarter, two three-pointers by Victor Dial tied the game at 41, but the Tigers' Deshean Townsend made a layup plus a foul shot to regain the lead, one of the last South View would have.

The Rams return to action tonight against South Robeson.