WEB CAST.
Garner survived a late rally from Smithfield-Selma on Friday night inside Trojan Coliseum to move past the Spartans 72-66 to head into the holiday break.
The Trojans (7-1, 2-0) began the game in a dog fight with the Spartans (7-3, 1-2) as each team fought the others press before eventually the quickness of Garner began to take over and led the men of Troy to a 35-28 lead at the break.
In the games second half, the lead for Garner ballooned to double-digits on several occasions thanks to a monster third quarter from senior Demarcus Sanford who had six of his team-high 19 points in the games third stanza to give the Trojans a 49-38 lead heading into the fourth period.
However, Smithfield-Selma refused to quit as the Spartans began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run and eventually had a 13-2 spurt to bull to within seven points before the Trojans called a timeout, just 90 seconds into the quarter.
But, the Spartans refused to go away as Montel Shepherd bombed three three-pointers in the final quarter to finish the contest with a game-high 26 and pull SSS to within six points at the 1:39 mark of the fourth. Thankfully, the Trojans found their stride at the line shooting 66 percent (12/18) in the fourth quarter while shooting 64 percent (23/36) for the game from the charity stripe.
Julius Barnes played a pivotal roll for the Trojans going five of six from the line in the fourth quarter while Sanford went six of 10 from the line in the final quarter to help give the Trojans the 72-66 victory.
Garner will break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Wednesday, December 26 when they return to the HighschoolOT.com Holiday Invitational. The Trojans will take on Goldsboro at 12:40 from Holliday Gym on the campus of Broughton High School.
Varsity Girls Fall
Garner could not overcome a poor shooting first half as the comeback effort for the lady Trojans, while valiant, came up just short as Garner fell to Smithfield-Selma 63-51.
The lady Trojans cut the Spartan lead to as few as six in the third quarter but could not get over the hump as they head into the Christmas break at 0-8.
Garner is back in action on Friday, January 4 when they host Knightdale at Trojan Coliseum - the contest is slated for a 6:30 tip-off.
JV Sweeps
Both JV teams swept its games on Friday night against Smithfield-Selma the JV girls earned a 36-21 victory while the JV boys downed SSS 61-43.
