Sports - January 2004

Wolves knock off Red Devils, pull within 2 of Cavs

By MIKE POWELL, LTN Correspondent

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NEWTON— Newton-Conover's Julius Powell has been a nemesis of Lincolnton's ever since he first suited up in a Red Devils uniform three years ago.

With the 6-8 Powell in the lineup, Newton-Conover had won five of the last six meetings against the Wolves. Powell was the difference in all five of those wins, including a victory at Lincolnton in December in which the Clemson recruit exploded for 36 points.

For whatever reason, the Wolves just seem to bring out the best in the Newton-Conover big man. However, that was not the case in Friday night's second Midwest 2A Conference meeting of the season between the teams.

This time, Lincolnton used a variety of gimmick defenses to hold Powell to 17 points, and the result was a 75-68 victory that kept the Wolves alive in the league race.

"We worked very hard in practice this week on some things to use against him (Powell)," said Lincolnton coach Bob Cowie. "We were determined that he wasn't going to beat us, that if they beat us, somebody else was going to do it." 

The Wolves used primarily a box-and-one to limit Powell's effectiveness. Several players took turns guarding Powell man-to-man, but Eric Wilson proved to be the best stopper.

Powell had three field goals in the fourth quarter to keep the Red Devils close, but he did not produce the flurry of points that he did against the Wolves in earlier meetings.

Not only did Eric Wilson control Powell, the 6-1 senior poured in 26 points to lead all scorers. Senior guard Darren Wilson added 21 as the Wolves' backcourt tandem combined for 47 points.

The Wolves also got production from Jordy Jefferies, who scored 13 points, and from Josh Keener, who came off the bench to contribute 10 second-half points.

In addition to the aggressive defense against Powell, Cowie pointed to the balanced scoring as a key to the win, which lifted the Wolves to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference, two games behind leader East Rutherford in the loss column.

"That is really a key for us. When we get scoring from other people, we are a very good team," Cowie said.

The Wolves jumped out to a 11-point lead early in the second quarter, but the Red Devils got back in the game behind some accurate 3-point shooting. The score was tied several times in the second half, the last time at 65 with under three minutes to play.

But the Wolves never relinquished the lead thanks to key defensive stops down the stretch and timely free throw shooting.

With Powell drawing spe cial attention, Newton Conover stayed in the contest behind a flurry of 3-point shots. Seth Kerley had a hot hand from long range with 21 points over the Lincolnton zone.

"They almost beat us with their 3-point shooters, but we had to give up something. Thankfully, we had enough to win," Cowie said.

Keener, a 6-3 senior center, gave the Wolves a huge lift with his inside scoring in the second half. Keener was 4-for-4 in the third quarter
and made five of six attempts for the game. He scored twice on putbacks and
got two other baskets on drives and dishes by Darren Wilson.

"I just do what I can to help the team," said Keener. "I couldn't have done it without some good passes from my teammates."

The loss dropped Newton-Conover to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in the Midwest 2A.

"The team that lost this game could pretty much forget about winning
the conference. But this was huge in terms of keeping us in it," Cowie said.

Lincolnton- Zack Gibson 5, Jordy Jefferies 13, Eric Wilson 26, Darren Wilson 21, Josh Keener 10.

 

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