Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Comets patiently upset Bulldogs

Clayton girls rally in final quarterClayton girls rally in final quarter

Clayton dictated the tempo Friday night as its girls slowed down Southeast Raleigh to claim a 34-31 Greater Neuse 4A Conference victory.

The loss was the first in the league this season for Southeast, which is 15-3 overall and moved up to No. 4 in this week’s N&O rankings.

“Our game plan was to slow down the game so that we stayed out of foul trouble and were fresh to win in the fourth quarter,” said Clayton coach Marlon Lee, whose club is 7-4 in the league and 13-4 overall.

Clayton trailed 29-24 entering the fourth quarter, but rallied with its defense. The Bulldogs managed only one field goal in the final period and did not score in the last 3:17.

The Comets pulled even at 31-31 with 2:26 on a free throw by Vernessa Hinnant. A steal by Jenna Harris led to a layup by Latesha Williams and a 33-31 Clayton lead with 1:53 left.

Hinnant drew a charging violation with 1:28 remaining and after a Clayton miss, made a steal and was fouled. She hit the first of two free throws to finish the scoring with 14.7 seconds remaining.

Southeast got off a potential tying 3-pointer, but missed with the ball going out of bounds as the game ended.

The Bulldogs defeated Knightdale 44-21 in a Greater Neuse game on Thursday night, but Southeast coach Nicole Sampson Meyers said playing on back-to-back nights had nothing to do with the loss to Clayton.

“Playing last night is not an excuse. We cannot blame tonight on last night,” she said. “We knew their pressure was coming. I think we just lost our composure. Our problem was mental lapses.”

Southeast seemed in control early. Clayton made only one of nine shots in the first quarter and trailed 10-2 going into the second, but Lee refused to increase the tempo, sticking with his plan. Southeast scored only two points in the second quarter and trailed 13-12 at the half.

Hinnant led all scorers with 17 points. Amara Bell had 10 points for Southeast.