Monday, Mar. 01, 2010

2 for Greenville, please

Greater Neuse River Conference members Clayton and Southeast Raleigh will both play in the girls 4-A regional semifinals Thursday night in Greenville and could meet for a fourth time this season.

After the thrill of earning a spot in the NCHSAA basketball regionals wears off, what's left for Southeast Raleigh and Clayton will be the challenge of trying to find a way into Saturday's regional championship game. Both teams, who shared the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference regular-season championship, will play in the regional semifinals on Thursday night.

Up first will be Southeast in a matchup with unbeaten Green Hope and the Triangle area's most prominent girls basketball talent -- Kristen Gaffney. Gaffney averages nearly 26 points per game and has rolled up six triple-doubles for the Falcons this season. Green Hope (29-0) has won its three playoff games by an average of 21 points.

The Bulldogs (23-4) won back-to-back road games at Lumberton and Fayetteville E.E. Smith to make their second-straight trip to regionals. The experience of winning on the road has been key for coach Nicole Myers' squad.

"Going on the road and being tested is the best thing that's happened to us all year," Myers said. "It took us out of that comfort zone and showed us that we can play in any environment and be a competitive team."

The Bulldogs' only losses in the past three months both came at the hands of Clayton, which Southeast will see again if both teams win on Thursday night.

Clayton (28-2) and Enloe (21-7) started their season playing against each other in a scrimmage. Now, one team will see its season end at the hands of the other on Thursday night.

"We saw each other early and [Clayton coach] Marlon [Lee] and I are good friends, so we're somewhat familiar with each other's teams," said Enloe coach Pina Baker. "Our team started to come together when we realized that we could achieve more as a team than we could as individuals."

That lesson for the Eagles came in the conference semifinals, according to Baker. Thursday night, both sides expect an up-and-down battle.

"The key for us is to remember that what we do in the first and second quarter can carry over into the third and fourth quarter," Lee said. "If we play too excitedly and make bad turnovers or pick up silly fouls, that's going to change the way we're able to approach the second half. We just have to keep our focus on winning each possession, winning each quarter, like it's been for the past few weeks and we'll be fine."