High school basketball: Top seeds win again, on to fourth round

FARMVILLE — With Farmville Central’s boys’ basketball team, it’s usually a matter of when — not if — the Jaguars hit their opponents with a big scoring run to either get a working lead or turn the game into a rout.

Southwest Onslow was tough enough to last until the third quarter, when Farmville Central rang up 18 points in a span of 4:25 to help it sprint past the Stallions 98-68 Tuesday night in a NCHSAA 2A third-round boys’ basketball playoff matchup at the Jaguar Den.

Farmville Central (28-1) will face Northwood, a 75-52 victor over Southeast Alamance, on Friday in Farmville.

Farmville Central has some familiarity with Northwood, having seen them at camps as well as at the John Wall Invitational in Raleigh over the holidays.

“We’ve seen them at the Wall, and we’ve seen them at N.C. State’s team camp,” Farmville Central coach Larry Williford said. “We played them twice summer before last.

“But all our efforts were on Southwest Onslow. I mean, you start looking, that’s when a team like this comes and scraps and competes and claws is going to get you.”

Southwest Onslow scored five consecutive points and quickly called timeout trailing just 57-42 with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.

The Jaguars responded with an 18-5 run over the next 4:25 to push their lead to 75-47 and leave little doubt that it would advance.

“We really wanted to try to slow them down because we know that’s a great basketball team,” Southwest Onslow coach Breon Hall said. “They push the pace very well, and they run the floor.”

“We’ve got good subs,” Williford said. “They came in, had a lot of energy. I thought we wore them down as the game went on. They’re a scrappy basketball team, and they play extremely hard.”

That was why Southwest Onslow hung in throughout the first half. The Stallions committed 14 first-half turnovers, but against a half-court trap thrown at them by the Jaguars in the second quarter, the Stallions either made easy baskets or turned the ball over.

“Good teams are going to convert,” Williford said. “You make one mistake in a trap — a bad rotation — and teams are going to score. Teams that have gotten this far are well-coached and they’re battle-tested, so they’ve seen about every defense you can throw at them.”

Farmville Central led 46-34 at intermission.

“We threw five or six different looks at them,” Williford said. “We settled on man. At the end of the day, if you can’t guard in the half-court, you’re not going to win a state championship.”

The Jaguars started the second half on an 11-3 run in the first 2:10 to push their lead to 20 prior to Southwest Onslow’s five unanswered points, which set up Farmville Central’s finishing run en route to its 21st consecutive victory.

Hampton Evans paced Farmville Central with 28 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

“He has just been on a tear,” Williford said.

Chris Rhodes responded to getting a start with 17 points. Rhodes was in the starting lineup in place of Alex Moye, who is coming back from the flu and came off the bench.

“We need everybody,” Williford said. “At this time of the year, you need everybody.”

Malekhi Hutchinson led Southwest Onslow with 19 points, while Quaydon Holder and Carlos Pagan added 11 apiece.

“I thought we fought hard, but just fell short,” Hall said. “I have a lot of young guys. They’re going to know who we are before we finish. This is just the beginning for us.”

Southwest Onslow finished its season with a 23-6 record.

3A

Seventy-First 83, South Central 59

The No. 5 seed Falcons were forced onto the road in the third round and saw their season come to a halt in Fayetteville at the hands of another set of Falcons.

The outcome was never in doubt as the hosts (26-2) rolled up a 21-11 lead after the first quarter and led 42-27 at the half.

South Central, the Big Carolina Conference champions, saw their six-game winning streak snapped and finished the season 22-4.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

2A

North Pitt 66, Nash Central 30

The No. 1 seed Panthers showed no signs of letting up in another blowout home win in Bethel.

Jordan Speller led the way with 24 points for North Pitt (26-3), while Zamareya Jones added 18 and Zihanna Lightfoot and Kenae Edwards had 10 apiece in the win.

The Panthers now must face a familiar rival in No. 12 West Craven in the fourth round on Friday. North Pitt dealt the Eagles (23-3) all three of their losses this season in Eastern Plains Conference showdowns for control of first place and for the conference tournament title.

West Craven toppled East Duplin, 47-45, in the third round on Tuesday.

3A

South Central 63, Scotland 55

The game was much closer than the Falcons have been accustomed to on most nights this season, but the result was the expected one.

After the teams played to a 15-15 tie after one quarter, top seed South Central (27-2) battled into a narrow 29-26 lead at the intermission. A key 21-11 run through the third gave the Falcons the cushion they needed as the No. 9 Fighting Scots (23-5) rallied again in the fourth.

The Falcons boasted four double-digit scorers led by junior Jaidyn Boswell’s 21 points and an 11-point, 13-rebound, five-steal, three-assist showing by sophomore Brook Evans. Sophomore Niyani Mayo added 11 points, six boards and three steals while Kaelyn McCarter had 10 points and four assists.

The Falcons will remain at home to take on No. 4. Western Alamance on Friday following its third-round triumph over and No. 5 Franklinton, 66-59.

SPRING SPORTS

GIRLS’ SOCCER

D.H. Conley 6, Clinton 1

The Vikings held a slim 1-0 lead at halftime on Tuesday night at Clinton before a five-goal explosion in the second half sent the game quickly out of reach.

Scoring two goals each for Conley were Rebekah Ochoa and Mallory Richardson, while Marissa Sutton and Annelise Black added single tallies in the win.

Sutton scored Conley’s lone goal of the match on Monday in a 6-1 defeat at Hoggard.

Next, the Vikings will travel to Wilson to participate in the Brittany Showcase beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

BOYS’ GOLF

Conley places third

The D.H. Conley golf team took third place in a non-conference match on Tuesday at Kinston Country Club.

John Thomas Anderson led the Vikings with a round of 81 (+10), good for a sixth-place tie individually, followed by Luke Jones with an 82.

The Vikings are back in action in a Big Carolina Conference match on Thursday at Carolina Colours Golf Club.

BASEBALL

Falcons coach selected

South Central baseball coach Pat McRae was selected as one of the Region 1 coaches for the BODYARMOR State Games High School Baseball Showcase, set to take place June 18-21 in Charlotte.

The showcase will feature the best 20 underclassmen players from eight North Carolina regions. Athletes will be competing in front of more than 80 college and professional scouts as they vie for the gold, silver and bronze medals.

Others picked from Region 1 were Cameron Ramsey (Rocky Mount Academy), Justin Roberson (Perquimans), and Willie Langley (Nash Central).