GOLDSBORO - After watching her team struggle in its two most recent outings, Rhonda Langdon's biggest hope is that the roller-coaster ride is over for the South Johnston girls.

And maybe what it took was the roller-coaster ride the Trojans experienced Thursday night before escaping pesky Eastern Wayne with a hard-fought, 63-61 victory.

Utilizing a 12-2 run down the stretch, the Trojans erased a two-game losing streak to improve to 7-10 overall and 4-2 in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference. South had won its first three league affairs.

Sparking the rally were Meredith Banks, Whitney Williams, Courtney Woods and Jessica Jackson.

With South facing a 56-51 deficit, Banks buried a jumper from the left of the lane. And after a free throw by the Warriors' Shante Boseman, Williams followed a miss in the lane to trim the Trojans' deficit to 57-55, and then followed with a layup from the right of the lane to even matters at 57-all.

Woods, who led all scorers with 21 points, snaked her way through the Warriors defense for a lay-up and Jackson buried a jumper from the line as South took a 61-57 lead with 3:22 remaining.

Following a jumper by Eastern's Tiara McIntyre, Woods canned both ends of a bonus opportunity, giving South a 63-59 edge with just under a minute to play.

But just when it appeared the Trojans could take a breath, the roller-coaster ride began again, missing their next four free throws while Danielle Daniel drained a pair to close the margin to 63-61.

But Eastern couldn't hit from the floor, missing its final four shots, including a soft five-footer from the left of the lane by Boseman as time expired.

"We've played pretty bad the last two games, but we had a good practice and a team meeting yesterday," Langdon said.

"I hope this has got them back to playing the way they need to play."

The rally enabled the Trojans to shake off what had been a seven-minute, 22-7 surge by the Warriors that had erased a 10-point third quarter South lead.

The roller-coaster ride began in the first half, as South's guards, led by Woods, Jackson and Tisa Snead, battled the Warriors' forwards, particularly Shante Boseman, tooth-and-nail.

Woods canned 12 of her points in the half, while Jackson added seven and Snead eight, off-setting balanced Warriors scoring, led by Boseman's 10-point effort in grabbing a 33-29 halftime lead.

Jackson finished with 12 points and Snead tallied 10, while Boseman led a quartet of Warriors in double-figures scoring with 15 points.

The teams traded the lead11 times in the half, eight in the second quarter.

That ride appeared to be leveling off at the outset of the second half, when the Trojans roared out of the gate to take a 44-34 lead midway through the stanza.

But the ride began taking longer turns and began rolling in the second half.

South Johnston used baskets by Williams, Woods, Liz Barbee and a trio of free throws by Jackson to claim a 44-34 cushion midway through the period.

And just when it seemed things were leveling out, the roller coaster took off again. The Warriors forced six Trojans turnovers, and McIntyre caught fire with a three-point play, a layup and a jumper, wrapped around a 3-pointer by Orteria Dorton and a bucket by Daniel to pull within 49-46.

Tia Jones then dropped in a pair of baskets and a charity toss, while Lakeisha Stephens added a free throw, giving Eastern a 52-49 lead entering the final period.

McIntyre finished with 12 points, Jones 11 and Daniel 10. Boseman grabbed eight rebounds for the Warriors, while Snead and Williams both grabbed six caroms for South.

The run continued into the fourth quarter as Boseman hit a soft jumper and Daniels added a lay-up for the 56-51 lead.

At that point, the Trojans took over.

"We weren't getting many breaks when we needed them," Langdon said, "But the girls kept on fighting. They did what we told them to; if we needed them to get a rebound, they got a rebound; if we needed them to hold the ball, they held the ball.

"They looked and played like a complete unit tonight. I was real proud of them."