Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

Comets still winning, a quarter at a time

CLAYTON - Post-season basketball is a matter of survive and advance.

Clayton girls coach Marlon Lee has a simpler slogan: "Win one quarter at a time."

The Comets did that Wednesday night, winning all four quarters from visiting Richmond County in rolling to a 64-33 rout of the Raiders in a second round, NCHSAA 4A playoff contest.

The win was the second consecutive 30-plus-point playoff win by the Comets, who defeated Wilmington New Hanover, 67-37 in a first-round game Monday night.

It also marked the 20th consecutive win for the Comets, the regular season and tournament champions of the Greater Neuse River Conference, who improved to 27-2. The Comets host Fayetteville 71st for the sectional championship Friday night.

"We take each game one quarter at a time," Lee said. "Tonight, we came out and played hard quarter after quarter."

The Comets, running from the opening tap against the Raiders' 3-2 zone, opened with 3-pointers from Vernessa Hinnant and Lakesha Williams to grab a 6-4 lead and never looked back, building a 19-11 first period lead.

That cushion grew to 37-19 by halftime as the Comets, behind Williams, Hinnant and Marnikka Young, took advantage of the Raiders zone as well as Richmond's inability to hit its shots from the perimeter.

“I saw on the Internet that one of their players [point guard Shaquita Covington] was out with a knee injury, and they were using a 3-2 zone," Lee said. "I felt if they are playing a zone, then they can't run with us. We have to try to dictate the game on what the other team does to us."

And run the Comets did, behind young, who led all scorers with 18 points, Hinnant (16) and Young.

Clayton began dominating the rebounding battle as Richmond opted to fire away from the perimeter, with a majority of its shots either banging harmlessly off the rim or missing the target altogether.

The Comets, meanwhile, raced up and down the floor, extending their lead, pushing the margin to 46-30 at the end of the end of the third period and blowing the game wide open in the fourth.

The advance to the sectional finals is the first in three years for the Comets, which fell to Wilmington Laney in the 2007-2008 campaign.

“We are more athletic and more quick than that team was," Lee said. "That team had to depend on mental toughness.

“We had a goal this season to win 20 games, but we never expected to win 20 in a row. But right now, we're just looking at ourselves as 0-0, and looking to improve to 1-0 each night out."