WEB CAST.
Garner and Harnett Central met for the second time in five days on Tuesday night at Garner's Trojan Coliseum. After Garner built a big lead, they have to survive a fourth quarter charge by Harnett Central to hold on 78-71 to advance to the semi-finals of the Greater Neuse River Conference Tournament.
Garner (22-0) led by five (17-12) after the opening eight minutes of play, but they saw that lead balloon to 42-27 at the break thanks to the outstanding first half play of Donald Johnson who scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half. Also, Gavin Wilson contributed eight in the opening sixteen minutes while Dominique Reed scored six in the first.
Harnett Central (6-16) used a big first half by standout senior, Brian Taylor, who scored 14 first points in the first half to keep the Trojans in the game. However, Taylor didn't have much help in the score book as the next closest first half scorer for Central was four points from Ruben Malone, which allowed the home standing Trojans to take a 14 point lead to the locker room.
In the second half, Garner used a huge third quarter to take a 23 point lead as Deion Dorsey scored four of his career high 11 points to help lead the charge for Garner. The Trojans made a switch at halftime as they put Emmanuel McClain on Taylor, which limited what he was able to do on offense. Garner led 63-40 going to the final eight minutes.
Leading by double digits, Garner coach Eddie Gray put in his reserves - which allowed Harnett Central to slowly climb back into the contest. Central hit shot after shot to close the lead to single digits with just over two minutes to play. However, Garner hit their free throws down the stretch and held on for the seven point, 78-71 win.
Garner will be back at home on Thursday night in the semi-finals of the Greater Neuse River Conference Tournament as they take on the Knightdale Knights who defeated West Johnston 65-58 on Tuesday. The Garner/Knightdale will tip at 7:30.
Prior to the game, Clayton will face Southeast Raleigh in the other boys semi-final, that will also be at Garner and will begin at 6:00.
