HighSchool OT

Weekly Wrap: Garner wins, overtime madness, Holly Springs still alive

By Nick Stevens
Jan 27, 2013

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap – my place to share my thoughts, tidbits, and nuggets of information about the week that was and the week that will be.

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Round One: Garner

It wasn't until the final seconds of Wednesday night 's game against Clayton that Garner could breathe a sigh of relief.

With the game tied at 83-83 with under two minutes left, Garner scored the last five points of the game en route to an 88-83 win over Greater Neuse River Conference rival Clayton, giving sole possession of first place to Garner.

As we said on Wednesday on HighSchoolOT Round Table, these two teams have their differences. An up-tempo, fast-paced game was going to favor Garner, while a slower game would favor Clayton.

Garner wants to run. They want to turn you over and get out in transition, and that's what they were able to do against Clayton. Turnovers in the final two minutes eventually won the game for Garner.

Clayton had their opportunities though. Big man Gary Clark had 42 points and 24 rebounds, and guard Anthony Gaskins had 16 points – but only two points in the second half. Credit Garner's defense for that.

Round two was supposed to happen Friday, but of course the snow and ice put a stop to that. The two will meet again at Clayton on Feb. 6. The boys game should tip around 8 p.m.

What adjustments will be made? I suspect you'll see a different game. Clayton will probably try to slow down Garner some, but the Trojans will want to do what they did on Wednesday – force turnovers and get in transition. Garner is fast, and that's one of the biggest assets they have.

Four quarters just isn't enough

Heritage's boys basketball team is tied for last place in the Cap 8 Conference with Sanderson with a 1-6 league record. But the Huskies almost got a win that would have put them right back in the mix for a playoff spot (even though they're very much still in that mix).

On Wednesday night, Heritage took conference rival Wakefield to not one, not two, but three overtimes.

Wakefield pulled it off, 57-56, but it just goes to show you how tough the Cap 8 is this season.

That wasn't the only overtime game in the conference on Wednesday night though. Leesville Road went on the road to Wake Forest-Rolesville and had to go an extra period to get a win over the Cougars.

Lamont Martin-White was the overtime hero, hitting a buzzer-beating floater to lift the Pride to a 40-38 win, keeping Leesville Road alone in third place.

Still in it

Holly Springs was on the verge of sliding off the bubble on Wednesday night. A loss to Panther Creek would have put the Golden Hawks 4.5 games behind the Catamounts for the last playoff spot out of the Tri-Nine.

But after the game, the Hawks have some fight left in them. Holly Springs got a 59-53 overtime win over Panther Creek, keeping them in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Panther Creek opened the game on a 16-9 run, but Holly Springs scored 23 points in the second quarter to take a 31-29 lead into halftime.

The Catamounts came back in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Holly Springs outscored Panther Creek 8-2 in the extra period to claim the victory.

Anthanee Doyle had 17 points for Holly Springs, while DeeJay Flippin added 14.

Holly Springs is still in sixth place in the Tri-9 behind Panther Creek. Only the top five teams from the conference get automatic bids, so Holly Springs can't have many more losses, and they need Panther Creek to lose a couple along the way.

Day returns for Millbrook

Syracuse recruit Briana Day returned to Millbrook's line-up on Wednesday night for the first time this season.

In her senior season debut, Day scored 12 points, helping Millbrook to a 57-30 road win over the Eagles.

Head coach Chris East said her return is a good thing.

"It's nice to have 'Big' back in the rotation. Her coming back is just at the right time for us because we are experiencing some injuries to our starters," East said. "Her motor is nonstop, so she will bring some more intensity to our team, especially at the defensive end of the floor. It was awesome to see her back in action tonight."

A busy, busy week

Thanks to the snow and ice, this week is going to be an exceptionally busy one.

Games will be played somewhere every night this week, so be sure to check the schedule on HighSchoolOT.com.

You can count on us to be out all week providing you with non-stop coverage.