The Warriors (3-9 overall) battled back and cut the Pirate lead to two (46-44) with 1:46 left, but Kenneth Collins, Khalil Larry and Tori Carmichael provided just enough offense at the end to lift Corinth Holders to a 51-50 victory in the finals of the Pirates’ Holiday Invitational Tournament Thursday night.

Corinth Holders (8-2 overall) went to its spread offense with just over five minutes left and the 12-point lead. East Wake responded by stepping up its defensive pressure and forcing some turnovers and was able to capitalize on baskets by Shaq Leach, Alex Cowan and Zavier Strickland. Strickland’s drive to the basket brought the Warriors on the brink of what would have been an incredible comeback.

East Wake coach Darrin Stinson said the team’s decision making at times eventually cost his team the game.

“Corinth Holders is athletic and they handled the ball well,” Stinson said. “In key situations, we made turnovers and our decision making wasn’t good. We made the wrong decisions at the wrong times.”

Corinth took advantage of East Wake’s inability at times to play transition defense, using a 15-2 run in the first period to erase a 6-2 deficit and go ahead 17-11.

“We weren’t getting back on defense,” Stinson said.

East Wake took a 22-21 lead on a free throw by DaQuan Wooten with 22.4 seconds left in the second, but Larry’s crossover step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Pirates a 24-22 lead at the break.

Kiyon Walden, Larry and Hampton Smith fueled a 7-0 run that extended the Pirates’ lead to 11 at 37-26. After Chris Pernell buried a 3-pointer – the first of four he had in the second half – Collins made two athletic plays, a pullup bucket and a step-back trey, to give the home team a 42-31 edge.

Corinth achieved the lead despite foul trouble to Klilah Cox and held its own with the Warriors on the boards. “I thought for the most part, we did a really good job boxing out because we’re shorter than they have more athletes,” said CHHS coach Chris Davis.

“We played really good as a unit the first three quarters. I think we slowed it down a little much (in the fourth period) and it led to some turnovers because we knew they weren’t going to give up. They kept fighting and we needed to be strong with the ball. We weren’t strong enough at the end of the game, but we had enough of a cushion where it didn’t kill us.”

Quincy Jackson started East Wake’s comeback with two free throws, then Leach hit a pair of shots after Corinth turnovers. A basket by Collins and free throws by Larry extended the lead to six (50-44) with 1:28 left.

Parnell’s 3-pointer cut it to 50-47, but Carmichael – who had missed the front end of a one-and-one with 35.5 seconds left – this time made the second of a two-shot opportunity with 6.6 seconds remaining for a four-point Pirate lead. Parnell’s 3 with less than a second left accounted for the final margin.

Collins led CHS with 16 points, followed by Larry and Walden with 12 each and Cox with eight.

Pernell paced East Wake with 14 points, 12 coming in the second half on the four 3s. Leach and Cowan added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Day One

Corinth 48, Heritage 36

In a tight defensive struggle, Corinth Holders (7-2) pulled away in the fourth quarter to claim a first-round victory over Heritage.

Heritage held a sizable advantage on the boards (27-16) in the first half and garnered a multitude of second- and third-chance opportunities but only led by one, 17-16, at halftime.

“They killed us on the boards in the first half,” said CHHS coach Chris Davis. “I thought we did a better job in the second half, but we still have to have everybody dedicated to boxing out. Heritage did a good job of being physical and aggressive and we were nervous in the first half because we missed a lot of shots we normally make. Defensively we played well and I thought Tori (Carmichael) played a wonderful game on the defensive end, chasing (Heritage guard) Danny Ligowski around and denying him the ball.”

Ligowski led Heritage with 11 points, but eight of them came in the first half. His only points in the second half came on a 3-pointer with 28.1 seconds remaining.

Kenneth Collins hit a pair of 3s and scored 10 of the Pirates’ 12 points in the first quarter and finished with 15. Klilah Cox, who was held to just two points in the first half, poured in19 in the second half, including 12 in the fourth period.

Cox’s 3-pointer gave Corinth Holders the lead for good, 28-27, with 1:07 left in the third quarter. He scored on a fast-break chance after a blocked shot by Kahlil Larry to start the fourth quarter.

Heritage briefly ended the run on two free throws by Kennedy Ojimadu with 3:54 left, but Cox notched baskets on Corinth’s next two possessions – a 3-pointer and underneath on an inbounds pass – to stretch the lead the 10 (39-29) with three minutes left. Carmichael made a pair of free throws, Kiyon Walden added his only basket and Larry and Cox added free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.

East Wake 68, Cleveland 47

East Wake’s defensive pressure led to several Cleveland turnovers in the second quarter, and a 28-12 run by the Warriors sent them on their way to a lopsided win over the Rams.

Leach and Pernell sparked the East Wake run in the second period. Leach had 10 points and Pernell added 10 of his own as the Warriors raced to a 45-20 lead at halftime.

Leach poured in 20 points for East Wake while Pernell added 12 and Alex Cowan chipped in 11. Leach and Pernell combined for 28 of East Wake’s 45 points in the first half, while Cowan scored all 11 of his in the first 16 minutes.

Cleveland had balanced scoring as Austin Jacobs led the way with 10 points and Bobby Stenberg, Chase Jackson and Jeremiah David added eight each.