WEB CAST.
Dominique Reed hit a 13-foot jump shot with four seconds left to lift Garner to a 44-42 win over Knightdale on Friday night at Trojan Coliseum.
It was also a historic night for the head coach of the Trojans, Eddie Gray as he picked up career win number 350 in his 22nd season.
Knightdale (10-9, 4-5) managed to keep up with the up tempo style of the Trojans as both team raced out to a 20-20 tie after the first eight minutes. Donald Johnson paced Garner in the opening stanza with three, three pointers. Meanwhile, Deshaun Griffin led Knightdale with eight first quarter points.
Garner (15-0, 8-0) went inside to Cameron Redd in the second quarter as he led the way with six points to give the Trojans a seven point, 33-26 advantage at the break. However, Johnson still led the Trojans in scoring with 10 first half points.
The second quarter began a trend that continued for the rest of the game as both teams slowed the pace of the game way down and as a result the Knights outscored Garner 11-6. Both teams struggled to score in any way including missing several layups.
In the final stanza, Garner continued their offensive struggles as they went 11 minutes of game action without a point which allowed Knightdale to take their first lead of the game at 42-40. That's when the Trojans found some offense. Reed hit a big layup with under 30 seconds left to tie the game at 42.
Then after a great defensive stand by Garner, they came down court and after almost throwing the ball away, Reed found some space and nailed the 13-footer to give Garner a two point lead, and after the Knightdale half court heave was no good, the Trojans survived.
However, the 44 points that Garner scored was a season low for the Trojans eclipsing the previous low of 62.
For some perspective on the milestone for Coach Gray, he picked up his 250th career win on November 17, 2005 over Middle Creek. Win number 300 came on November 18, 2008 also over Middle Creek.
Garner is back in action on Monday night when they return home to take on Harnett Central at 7:30.
Varsity Girls fall to Knightdale
Garner just couldn't complete their comeback as they were down by 14 going to the final stanza, and couldn't get over the hump after cutting the lead down to seven. Knightdale just pulled away as they defeated Garner 48-33.
The Lady Trojans are back in action on Monday when they host Harnett Central at 6:00
JV Boys Blast Knightdale
The only team to beat the JV Trojans was Knightdale. That all changed on Thursday night as the Trojans blasted Knightdale on the road 62-45.
Garner is now 14-2 overall and 7-1 and in first place in the conference. Leading the Trojans were:
The Trojans are back in action on Monday when they travel to Harnett Central at 7:30
