WEB CAST.
Garner was able to rally from a nine point, 33-24 halftime deficit on Friday night to earn a 63-61 victory over Knightdale and procure the poll position in the Greater Neuse River Conference.
Knightdale (6-7, 4-1) came out on fire and took a 20-7 lead after the first quarter as the Trojans went the final 4:18 of the opening period without a point. However, like good teams do, Garner battled back and went on a quick 15-0 spurt to take the lead away from Knightdale. But, the Knights went on a run of their own and closed the half up by nine (33-24).
Garner (12-1, 5-0) began to chip away and the deficit in the third stanza cutting it to as few as four points early in the quarter as Cameron Redd scored six of his 12 points in the third and with 4:58 left in the quarter, Garner trailed by only four. After that mark in the contest, Anthony Tucker came off the bench and was a spark plug for Coach Gray's squad as he poured in five points to knot the game at 43 after three periods.
The opening moments of the third stanza belonged to the Knights as they went on a 6-0 run to take a 49-43 edge before the Trojans began to make their run. Quez Crowell became the go-to guy for the Knights scoring six of his team high 15 in the fourth.
After Garner chipped back and tied the game, the Trojans took the lead when freshman, Julius Barnes came off the bench to tie a career high at 11 points but his biggest play was poking the ball away from a Knightdale player and sinking a free throw to give the Trojans the lead.
But, the game was not secure until Dominique Reed who had sat out most of the third quarter due to foul trouble hit two crucial free throws to give the Trojans a 61-58 advantage with 37.4 left. Josh McClain added two more free tosses to make it 63-58 before the Knights hit a three to cut the lead to 63-61 which was the final margin.
Garner will return to action on Tuesday night when they hit the road and take on arch rival Southeast Raleigh, tip-off from Bulldog country is slated for 8:00.
Varsity Girls fall
Coach Mays and his Lady Trojans battled the entire game and after cutting a 10-point halftime deficit into single digits in the second half, Garner couldn't complete the comeback as they fell to Knightdale 55-47 on Friday night.
The Lady Trojans are on the road Tuesday night at 6:30 when they travel to Southeast Raleigh.
JV splits
JV Girls fall to Knightdale 47-23. They travel to Southeast on Tuesday at 4:00.
The JV Boys who trailed 10-3 after the first quarter battled back to take a one point, 40-39 advantage after three before holding on to win at Knightdale 55-53 on Friday night.
Coach Bloms and the JV Trojans are back in action on Tuesday at Southeast Raleigh at 5:15.
Trojans survive Knightdale to keep conference lead
