Goldsboro bounced back from its tough 64-61 loss and against James Kenan last Friday.
The Cougars turned in four quarters of textbook defense in a 77-38 victory against Spring Creek in East Central 2A Conference action on Wednesday night.
Goldsboro used its defense to pressure the Gators, create turnovers, crowd passing lanes and get hands in the face of shooters for the entire game.
“We came out with great energy,” Goldsboro head coach Jamal Croom said. “We responded from our loss against James Kenan.
“We needed to respond. We took the James Kenan loss pretty hard, and guys didn’t like the way that felt, so they wanted to respond.
Goldsboro began the game with a 15-2 run and led 21-7 after one quarter. The Cougars overwhelmed Gators with their continuous wave of fresh bodies off the bench.
In total, nine different players scored in the game for Goldsboro, which led 50-25 at the half.
“Our defense is our identity, and we want to get turnovers so we can get out and run. Traditionally, that’s a Goldsboro thing. We get out and run,” Croom said. “We pressured them (Spring Creek) and turned the ball over a lot, and that was the major difference in the game.”
Goldsboro’s Xavion Atkinson and Jaikir Fowler both scored a game-high 23 points. And both Atkinson and Fowler hit four three-pointers in the game.
Tajmari Joyner and Justin Taylor each finished with seven points. Noah Hancock and Justice Wooten each had six points.
Kaden Jones paced the Gators with 11 points.
The Cougars (3-1 overall) continue East Central Conference play at Clinton (0-2) on Friday, while Spring Creek (0-5) travels to James Kenan (4-1)
“We’re coming right along, and they are doing a good job,” Croom said.
