RALEIGH -- Marlon Lee walked down the long hallway in the Southeast Raleigh gymnasium to collect his thoughts and reflected on what could have been.
The Clayton girls’ basketball coach was despondent and with good reason. His Comets, despite losing four starters to fouls, still had plenty of opportunities against East Wake in the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference Tournament semifinals. Instead it was the Warriors – who needed a 10-4 run in the final 2:47 of the second overtime – to defeat Clayton 75-70, advancing to Friday’s championship game against top seed Southeast.
“You have got to keep playing and be ready to play no matter what happens,” Lee said after the Comets, the third seed, fell to 15-6. “We had girls make some big shots and free throws, but we also missed some as well and still had the opportunities at the end. We couldn’t finish when we needed to.”
East Wake (21-4 overall and the No. 2 seed) trailed 66-65 with 2:47 left in the second overtime after Clayton guard Tajah Clark stole a pass and converted a layup. On the play, EW’s Shakerrya Morrison had her nose bloodied and it took 10 minutes to remove the blood from the floor.
When play resumed, Breanna Archibald converted a layup in transition to give the Warriors the lead, 67-66, with two minutes left. Morrison, back in the contest, followed her own miss for a 69-66 edge with 1:30 left.
But Clayton wouldn’t go away without a fight. The Comets – down to one starter (Harris) after losing Jasmine Dixon and Latesha Williams a minute earlier due to fouls – tied it at 69-all when Harris buried a 3-pointer with 1:12 left. The Comets had already lost two other starters (Ashley Murphy and Vernessa Hinnant) early in the fourth quarter to fouls.
But the Warriors – who had lost three starters due to fouls by that time (Shayla Tanner, Cierra Williams and Tianna Knuckles) – also kept battling and finished the game on a 6-1 run.
Daisha Thorpe’s driving basket gave EW the lead for good, 71-69 with 51.2 seconds left, and after a steal by Shamara Richardson, made it 73-69 on a pair of free throws by Thorpe with 21.3 seconds remaining.
Clark made one of two free throws at the line to pull Clayton within three, but East Wake sealed the victory when Morrison rebounded Thorpe’s second missed free throw and scored with 7.1 seconds left.
“Both teams played with a lot of heart,” EW coach Toni Vick said. “We just kept fighting and never gave up.”
Clayton, which had lost to East Wake by lopsided margins during the regular season, led 54-51 on a Clark free throw with 3.5 seconds left.
But the Warriors’ prayers were answered when Thorpe – with two Comets on her – swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game in overtime tied at 54.
“Looking back now, I wished I had fouled her,” Lee said. “But she made a lucky shot.”
The squads were tied at 56 and 58, the latter after Latesha Williams fouled out with 2:39 left. Just 38 seconds later, Dixon went to the CHS bench with her fifth foul. That left Clayton with one starter (Harris), Williams’ more than capable backup (Clark) and players who hadn’t seen that much playing time (Taylor Williams, Abby Durham and Amber Caudle) on the floor with 2:01 left in the first overtime.
Still, the Comets found ways to stay in the game. Clark’s two free throws tied it at 61 with 1:07 left, and Durham’s 12-footer – just her second basket of the season – tied it at 63 with 37.5 seconds left.
East Wake set up the final shot only to have Archibald’s attempt roll off the rim as time expired, forcing a second overtime session.
Morrison (19 points), Thorpe (17) and Kianna Wynn (13) led East Wake, while Clark paced Clayton with 20 points, followed by Williams with 17 and Harris with 13.
