Published: 12:59 AM, Sun Mar 07, 2010
Wilson leads Terry Sanford to Eastern Regional title
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
Terry Sanford coach, players talk about winning East
4-A East final: Terry Sanford 51, Riverside 44
GREENVILLE - Not winning the Most Valuable Player Award at the All-Eastern Regional on Saturday was the least of Chris Wilson's worries.
The prize he and the rest of his Terry Sanford teammates want most is still available, and only one win away.
Wilson scored 49 points in two days, 14 of them in Terry Sanford's 4-A Eastern Regional title match with Durham Riverside.
He never came off the court in either of Terry Sanford's regional semifinals, and for a second straight night led them to victory, this time 51-44 over Riverside.
The win sends Terry Sanford (31-0) to N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh next Saturday for the 4-A state title game with the Western champion, Lake Norman. Lake Norman defeated West Charlotte, 83-72, in overtime.
"Ever since the season started, we talked about how much that loss last year hurt,'' Wilson said, referring to losing to Mount Tabor in the state title game. "That's been our burning fire this season. We've used that as motivation to get back to this point.
"This was our goal, to make it back.''
The MVP award went to Wilson's teammate, Robert Carpenter, who scored nine points against Riverside and was saddled with foul trouble most of the night. When the team got to the dressing room, Terry Sanford coach Bill Boyette said Carpenter handed Wilson the MVP trophy.
"It's all about winning to me,'' Wilson said. "As long as we're winning, individual awards don't matter. We're 31-0 right now and we've got a chance to play for a title.''
A small defensive change at the half helped pave the way to the Terry Sanford win. Riverside's T.J. Warren hurt the Bulldogs inside in the first half when the score stood 19-all at the end of two quarters. At halftime, Boyette put Jordan Vann on Warren for the second half.
Warren only scored two field goals in the second half.
"Jordan comes up big defensively with a lot of big plays,'' Boyette said.
The Bulldogs continued to show the ability to come from behind in the second half, something they've learned mainly in the playoffs. "We have done some very nice things down the stretch from an offensive and defensive standpoint, including making free throws, to seal these big wins,'' Boyette said.
Terry Sanford didn't take command of the game until the fourth quarter when a 13-3 run gave them a 39-28 lead with 3:17 left to play.
Riverside got to six in the time remaining but could pull no closer.
"Our trademark is getting stops and getting rebounds, and I thought we did a tremendous job of that, especially in that run,'' Boyette said. "I think each time we scored, Riverside felt a little more pressure and maybe threw up some bad shots or took quick shots, and that played into our hands as we were able to rebound.''