Raiders crush Panthers

Published 12:50 am Saturday, December 20, 2008

Southside lost its game against Greensboro 59-40 Friday night.

With only four minutes elapsed since the opening tip, Greensboro raced out of the gate to a 16-0 lead behind transition layups from DaShawn Woods and deadly 3-point shooting from Bary Ward.

Though he only finished with 10 points on the night, Ward’s two 3-pointers capped the Raiders’ 16-0 start and forced Southside coach Cecil Brown to call a timeout to rally his troops.

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“We dug ourselves in a hole really early,” said Brown. “They wanted it more than we did.”

Desmond Moore hit a 3-pointer to end the Panthers’ drought at the 2:18 mark, but the damage had been done.

Leading 19-4 headed into the second quarter, Greensboro (11-2) didn’t let up. The Raiders went on a 10-2 run sparked by a layup and jump shot from Charles Teacher to push the lead to 29-6.

The Panthers (4-8) went on a 7-0 run late in the quarter to trim the lead to 29-13, but they would get no closer the rest of the way.

For Greensboro coach Ondray Wagner, the key to the win was seeing the Panthers in person at Francis Marion’s Thanksgiving tournament.

“I saw some weaknesses,” said Wagner.

Despite the Raiders’ record, it would seem that Greensboro is not getting its due respect. But that suits Wagner just fine.

“I love flying under the radar,” said Wagner. “I want my boys to not get too big-headed.”

Woods led the Raiders with 23 points.

Moore led Southside with 10.