CHOCOWINITY — He made passes and picked pockets, but most importantly, Sha’he Morning was deadly from beyond the three-point line as he racked up a game-high 25 points to lead South Creek to a 59-46 victory over Southside on Tuesday.
The Cougars point guard nailed four threes in the second quarter alone, then capped off his stellar performance with an eight-point fourth quarter to help beat back the Seahawks.
“He pushed the ball really well tonight and he just played with so much energy,” South Creek coach Daryl Pittman said. “He’s a great shooter. I know he tries to get everyone involved, but sometimes I wish he would be more selfish.”
On Tuesday, Morning and the offense found the perfect balance as eight other Cougars scored points to up South Creek’s record to 3-4.
Southside struggled at times offensively, but held a 10-6 lead after the first quarter and managed to keep itself within striking distance the entire game.
“I told the guys that this was going to be the best competition that we had seen so far and it was true,” Southside coach Sean White said. “We stayed with them pretty even.”
Led by point guard Donshae Miller’s 19 points and C/F Donshae Tatum’s 10, the Seahawks trailed by three at the half, 24-21.
“Tatum has really stepped up big. I’m sure he was close to having a double-double tonight. He’s had a double-double or close to one in every game so far this year,” White said.
A Miller bucket midway through the fourth cut the Cougars lead to 45-40, but South Creek’s Nashon Outlaw hit two huge back-to-back 15-footers to wrestle back momentum.
The Cougars were aggressive and deceptive on the defensive end, as Pittman freely switched between zone and man schemes.
“We kept mixing it up,” Pittman said. “We gave them a little man and a little zone and then a little pressure. (Southside) is very patient on offense so we wanted to try to keep some pressure on them.”
White said his team has not faced a lot of man defense this year and that is something they will continue to work on.
“When they came out in man that kind of surprised me. Last year they played zone almost the entire game,” White said. “But, they came out in man, and that’s one thing we have to work on. We have to do a better job with our passing and cutting.”

South Creek    6    18    15    20    —    59
Southside    10    11    14    11    —    46

Cougars (59)
Battle 4, Outlaw 8, Sha’he Morning 25, Little 6, Randolph 4, Speller 2, Andrews 4, Smaw 1.
Seahawks (46)
Donshae Tatum 10, Donshae Miller 19, Gaskins 8, Jones 5, Moore 4.