With Rocky Mount Prep ahead by 13 points Wednesday and in the middle of a run of seven unanswered points, guard Keneen Deberry scooped up a loose ball at mid-court.

He dribbled to the 3-point line, took a quick look around, and thought to himself, ‘Why not?’

Make that 10 answered points and an eventual victory against Princeton, 66-52.

“We were up, just let it fly,” Deberry said. “That’s what coach wants, us to shoot on the fast break. And we got it.”

Rocky Mount Prep’s pressure to start the fourth quarter might give the idea that the Jaguars are ready to move on to life after Deshawn Freeman – at least for this season.

Freeman injured his knee two months ago and coach Eddie Knudsen hoped the 6-foot-8 power forward would return.

Instead, Freeman has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a right knee injury that will require surgery. Freeman said Wednesday that it might be a torn meniscus.

With forward Donte Samuels also on the bench with a shoulder contusion, the Jaguars (17-4) watched their big man depth vanish in a hurry.

Knudsen set out to make the Jaguars’ defense better. They were tired of giving up 70 and 80 points and were disappointed that it was taking 100 points to win games.

Rocky Mount Prep, which hasn’t lost a game this calendar year and only once in nearly two months, didn’t need 100 points against Princeton.

The Jaguars did need that quick 10 to start the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been able to press and force turnovers, and that’s kind of what we’ve lived on,” Knudsen said. “When teams have been able to get it over half court, they’ve been scoring. We didn’t want that trade off. We want the steals, but we don’t want to give up the lay-ups.”

Rocky Mount Prep led by six points, but 60 seconds later, the Jaguars were ahead by 16.

Jacob Barrett hit a jump shot and then went to the line. The very next possession, Barrett, who finished with a game-high 19 points, turned a steal into a lay-up. James Bonds scored two of his 14 points the same way on the next possession.

That paved the way for Deberry’s big decision. He knocked down three of his 14 points to finish the surge that would have made most players happy.

But not Barrett. He wanted more.

“As many as we can get,” he said. “I think we can do better.”

Knudsen expects Samuels back in the lineup by Monday when the Jaguars travel to Raleigh to face Upper Room Christian Academy.

He’ll be joining a defense that has learned to force turnovers in front of him.

Now, if Samuels can stop lay-ups behind the Rocky Mount Prep guards, things could become interesting.

“I think we can do better on defense,” Deberry said. “We can stop teams on a state-championship level.”

Jaguars’ coach Warren Davis tried to prepare his team for the inevitable press that was coming and give them a way to beat it.

Neither goal was accomplished.

“It wasn’t what I expected from the start,” Davis said.

As the turnovers mounted, and the points for Princeton poured in behind the turnovers, starting point guard Kiera Bryant grew more and more frustrated.

Bryant followed each missed pass or blocked shot with an eye roll and an obvious reaction to the Jaguars’ struggles.

Bryant finished with a team-high 13 points, but her frustration permeated through Rocky Mount Prep (5-10).

“Kiera, she had a meltdown moment,” Davis said. “When she’s not in the flow of the game, we don’t have a point guard that can handle the press. I’m a little disappointed by that.”

The Jaguars also were missing senior center Fredrika Bunch, who sat next to Davis on the bench and was visibly missed on the court as the Bulldogs scored 18 unanswered points in the second half.

BOYS
Rocky Mount Prep 66
Princeton 52
PRI            17    11    11    13    –    52
RMP          16    19    10    21    –    66
PRI: CJ Jefferys 11; AJ Smith 10; Dalvin Stancil 8; Nick Cobb 8; Rusty Wallace; Will Toler 2; Anthony Martin 2; Ryne Woodard 2; Brad Williamson.
RMP: Jacob Barrett 19; Keneen Deberry 14; James Bonds 14; Quashun Coppedge 9; Gary Smith 7; Garrett Silver 3.

GIRLS
Princeton 55
Rocky Mount Prep 33
PRI           12    13    18    12    –    55
RMP            4    12    4    13    –    33
PRI: Savanna Massengill 23; Nicole Melvin 12; Hannah Woodard 8; Tori Paul 8; Megan Gerrell 2; Katlyn Peedin 2.
RMP: Kiera Bryant 13; Jasmine Sharpe 7; Mercedez Haywood; Ladika Faison 5; Rebecca Webb 2.

Justin Hite can be reached at 407-9951 or at jhite@rmtelegram.com.