By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Southeast Alamance girls’ basketball team will aim for its third road victory of the state playoffs Friday night.
The Stallions, who are seeded No. 12 in the Class 2-A East Region, visit top-seeded Fairmont in the regional semifinals.
Southeast took down fourth-seeded Goldsboro 47-41 on Tuesday night.
The Stallions (26-3) pulled away after trailing 23-21 at halftime. The score was tied at 32-32 entering the fourth quarter.
Shaniya Paylor’s 13 points and Inysia McIver’s 11 points led Southeast’s scoring. Natalie Lopez, who had the team’s lone 3-point basket, added nine points.
Last year, the Stallions were eliminated in the third round.
Fairmont (24-1) won 56-35 against eighth-seeded Nash Central for its 16th consecutive victory.
Southeast and Fairmont have a common opponent because both teams lost in December to Class 1-A state power Bishop McGuinness.
Second-seeded Seaforth, which shared the Mid-Carolina Conference regular-season title with Southeast and defeated the Stallions in the conference tournament final, will face third-seeded East Duplin in the other regional semifinal.
Friday’s winners will go to the regional final next Thursday at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. The state championship games for Class 2-A and Class 4-A are March 15, also at Joel Coliseum.
In last Friday night’s second round, Southeast defeated fifth-seeded West Craven 52-43. Paylor posted 18 points and McIver and Lopez both had 10 points.
Southeast boys fall
The season closed on the Stallions with Friday night’s 67-48 loss at second-seeded Southwest Onslow in the second round of the Class 2-A state playoffs.
No. 15 seed Southeast (22-7) ended with a four-win improvement from last season, which was the school’s first year.
