The Nashville Graphic from Nashville, North Carolina • 7

SECTION PAGE1-B THE NASHVILLE GRAPHIC, NASHVILLE, KLCL WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1995 Defense, free throws lead Nash Central past Martin i i If Martin came back on the shooting of DenickParker in the third quarter. The Vikings tied it at 30-30 on a Parker layup, but Antonio Gaylor scored in transition for Nash Central, and the Trojans never trailed again. Cooper joked that there may have been added incentive for Nash Central. "I told them my birthday is tomorrow (Friday)," Cooper said, "and if we lost, they would run. "Really, though, I just try to bring out as much as I can get from them.

They never gave up when Martin came down and scored. They really stepped up tonight" Pettychippedin 12points for Nash Central, which traveled to West Edgecombe on Monday. For Martin, Parker scored 14 and Heath had 13. By STEVE WALSTQN Given his penchant for trick defenses, the late Jim Valvano would have been proud of die Nash Central eighth-grade boys' basketball team. The Trojans, 28-point losers to C.B.

Martin in Tarboro a week earlier, used a triangle-and-two zone defense to shut down Martin's inside play and three-point shooting on Thursday, handing the Vikings their first loss, 55-49. Tim Moody hitapair of free throws with four seconds left to lift Nash Central to 6-5. Martin, which mounted a furious comeback from a 12-point deficit, was left 8-1. "They really wanted it," Nash Central coach Elijah Cooper said of his team. They're not a bad team if I can just get them to play together, that's the hard part." The Trojans played well together to begin the fourth quarter.

Five players scored in a 12-3 run that opened the period. When Moody was fouled while making a follow shot, and hit the subsequent free throw, Nash Central took a 49-37 lead. Determined not to give up its undefeated status so easily, Martin struck back, using an aggressive, trapping defense to score the next 11 points. Travis Heath converted a three-point play with 5 1 seconds left, slicing the margin to 49-48. James Marshall hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left, and after the Vikings made the front end of a one-and-one.

Moody iced the game at the foul line. Ben Ruff got a steal and layup at the buzzer to complete the scoring and end Martin's comeback. "I kept telling them to pull the ball out when we got the lead," Cooper said. "But we hit a couple of free throws at the end, and that helped a lot. Theories we needed, we hit them.

"Our hustle made the difference led the Trojans in scoring with 18, but Kevin Petty may have been the unofficial "hustle" leader. Petty worked hard inside and dove for loose balls. The last of Petty 's five second-quarter points helped Nash Central open a 27-15 lead with 1:44 left in the first half. 1 4eV Y' 1 Rising to the challenge Nash Central's Kevin Petty (20) tries to slip past Martin's Daniel Brown Ben Ruff (40) get in rebounding position. Lady Trojans stay perfec 4f 4 1 5 a- a By STEVE WALSTON A look at the records would seem to indicate that C.B.

Martin is the second-best eighth-grade girls' basketball team around. On Thursday, the Nash Central girls showed the rest of the teams just how far they have to go. Janetta Arrington poured in 14 points, and Nash Central held Martin to just three points over the first three periods, rolling to a 38-16 win. Unbeaten over two seasons, the Lady Trojans improved to 1 1-0. Martin, which has lost only to Nash Central, fell to 7-2.

When Tiffany Foster scored a layup off the opening tip for the Lady Trojans, the rout was on. Nash Central scored the first eight points and took an 8-1 lead after one quarter. Martin was unable to generate any offense against Nash Central's 2-1-2 zone defense, and the Lady Trojans dominated inside to take an 18-3 lead at half. "i 1 "I noticed when we played them last week (a 38-23 win in Tarboro) they couldn handle our zone," coach Minnie White said. That, and our 2- 1- 2 half-court trap, stopped them." Nash Central's defensive intensity remained high in the third quarter, and that spelled trouble for the Lady Vikings.

Four different players scored for Nash Central.and the Lady Trojans pitched a shutout to lead 27-3 after three quarters. Foster hit a three-pointer to start the fourth, giving Nash Central its biggest lead, 30-3. With the margin at 32-7 and 3:09 to play, the Lady Trojan substitutes hit the floor. Martin took full advantage of the Nash Central bench, reeling off nine points in the next 1:30. White had seenenough.andthestarters returned.

"I told my little girls to set up in a 2- 1-2 zone," White said. "Half of them played man and half played zone. They didn't know what to do." Arlington and Tori Woodcock combined for the final six points, SRMCC HOLDS LIFTING CONTEST ROCKY MOUNT The South Rocky MountCommunity Center will sponsor a Bench Pressing Contest on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 12:00 noon. The fee for the contest is $20 per person.

Registration is underway and will continue through Feb. 18. For more information, and to register, call the Center at 972-1 169. WILMINGTON NAMES NEW TEAM WILMINGTON Owner Steve Bryant and artist Frank Harrod, who teamed up to design the highly successful Carolina Mudcats logo in 1988, are hoping their latest creation is another masterpiece. Bryant announced Thursday that the new Southern League franchise I i "inn ii i in Graphic photo by Steve Walston (25) wMle Antonio Gaylor (10) and settling the issue.

"This is the best game we've played," White said. "We're learning to hold the ball up some and give the offense time to set up. We had some good passing, and we looked for the open man." White credited the play of Carisse Moody. Though Moody scored only two points, her defense and rebounding were keys to the victory. "She played good defense," White said.

"Martin concentrated on her inside, and the others picked it up. "Our goal is still to goundefeated." And with Martin behind them, the Lady Trojans are well on their way. GIRLS Null Central 3, C.B. Martin It C.B. MARTIN (7-2) LaShonda Stanley l.De-niac Hinton 4, Deshunda Brown 11.

NASH CENTRAL (11-0) Carisse Moody 2. Janetta Arrington 14. Tori Woodcock 8, Ashley Leonard 2, Tiffany Foster 9, Tanieka Smith 2, Eva C.B.Martin Nash Central 1 1 .1 3 in Wilmington will be called the Port City Roosters. "We chose Port City because the Wilmington area has the state's largest port and has always been known by that name," said Bryant. "Rooster was chosen for several reasons," he added.

"First, this is part of an awakening of a great town to professional baseball which has been missing for 45 years (1950). Second, it's a truly unique nickname like the Mudcats. Noother professional sports team is named Roosters. "In addition, there's a rooster sitting on top of a huge steeple above the First Presbyterian Church in town, and it occurred to us that this area is so rich in culture it stands out just like that rooster does on the steeple." The Roosters' season opener is against the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday, April 6, at Five County Stadium. PCT .833 .714 .333 .167 PP 314 303 409 216 PA 227 292 422 303 i i 1 4 iJ5 A BOYS Nun Central 55, C.B.

Martin 4 C.B. MARTIN (8-1) Travia Heath 13, Mac-keith Dickon Trevia Williama Derrick Parker 14, Jason Hb 2, Aknzo Eaum 4, Daniel Brown 2, Mark Beach 1. NASH CENTRAL (6-5) Kevin Petty 12. Antonio Gaylor (, Ben Ruff 4, lamea MarahaU 18. Tim Moody 9, Kevin Lucas 4.

OB. Martin Nash Central 11 11 12 15 49 12 17 18 55 Postponed Amazing what a little frozen precipitation can do. All of the area's athletic events scheduled for Friday, Feb. 10, were postponed due to a mixture of sleet and snow that fell on Nash County just before noon. Postponements includedNorthern Nash's scheduled home basketball matchup with Kinston.

The Knights and Vikings will square off at North-em today (Wednesday), starting with the junior varsity boys' game at 4:30 p.m. Southern Nash's trip to Hertford County was postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 22, with the boys' game starting at 4:30 p.m., and Rocky Mount hosted Greenville Rose on Monday. How long until spring? Umpires needed to officiate high school baseball, softball games Graphic photo by Slav Waltton In-your-face defense GB. Martin's Deshunda Brown (25) and the rest of the Lady Vikings face an uphill climb against the pressure defense applied by Tori Woodcock (40) and her Nash Central teammates.

Wednesday, v'Nqrthsm Nash; Pocky Mount swimming In. Big East Conference rrwet at New Bern, 4 p.m. February 1 5: Kinston, 4ao p.m, Do you have what it takes to be an umpire? If the answer is yes, Don Fly is looking for you. Fly, the baseballsoftball booking agent for the Coastal Plains Association is recruiting women and men to umpire high school (public and private) baseball and softball games this spring. Contact Fly for more information on registering to become an umpire.

He may be reached, at any time, at 442-2429. BASEBALL REGISTRATION UNDERWAY ROCKY MOUNT Registration is currently underway for the City of Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation Department Midget League, Little League and Junior League baseball programs. Those wishing to register must be between nine and IS years old as of August 1, 1993. Registration deadline is Friday, March 10, for ages 9-12, and Friday, March 31, for ages 13-15. If you have any questions, please call the Athletic Office at 972-1 160 or 972-1 161.

Northern Nash basketball I nursxiy, February Nash Central eth-grade basketball at Rocky Mount Edwards, 4 p.m. iliiil Nashville Prep Basketball "'U. ftwy, February 17; TEAM bray Gold Navy Green 5 3 1 tNorthem Nah Rocky; Mount wrestling In East Regional at -Eastern Wayne, 9 a.m. Southern Nash wrestling 'to East Regional at Washington Northern Naeh JV girls basketball at Rocky Mount, 4 p.m Northerh Nash basketball B2abeth City Northeastern, 43D p.m. Southern Nash basketball Tarboro 4:30 p.fn Mount basketball Bern, Northern Nash 9-grada basketball at Rocky Mount Monday, January 6: Gray 53 (Jason Battle 16), Navy 35 (Ryan Carpenter 10) Wadnaaday, February 6: Game canceled due to inclement weether Saturday, February 11: GoM 40 (Mike Morris 20), Gray 38 (Jason Berde 17) Navy 81 (Brian WiHiems 18), Green 25 (Brad Jones 6).