By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The girls’ basketball teams from Southeast Alamance and Western Alamance are heading to regional finals after taking different paths to get there.
Southeast won its third consecutive road game in the Class 2-A East Region, knocking off top-seeded Fairmont 43-33 on Friday night.
In the Class 3-A East Region, Western captured its fourth home playoff victory, turning away Union Pines 66-52 on Friday night.
So next are trips to Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem for both teams.
Western (26-4) will meet top-seeded Fayetteville Sanford (27-3), an 88-45 winner against previously undefeated Wilson Fike, at 6:00 p.m. Monday. It will be one of four games – two girls, two boys – on that day. The West Region girls’ final pits Cramer against North Lincoln at 2:00 p.m.
The Class 3-A state final is Friday at Joel Coliseum.
Southeast (27-3), the No. 12 seed, will tangle with Mid-Carolina Conference rival Seaforth (28-2) for the third time this season at 2:00 p.m. Thursday in the East Region final, also part of a four-game slate with two girls’ games and two boys’ games. Seaforth won the first and third meetings with Southeast. The second-seeded Hawks defeated East Duplin 53-32 in the regional semifinal.
The winner goes to Saturday’s Class 2-A state championship game against either East Burke or North Wilkes. Those teams meet at 6:00 p.m. Thursday in the West Region final.
How Southeast did it …
Clara LaChapelle posted 13 points, Shaniya Paylor notched 11 points, and Inysia McIver had 10 points for Southeast.
The Stallions led 20-12 at halftime and 30-19 after three quarters.
The Golden Tornadoes had trouble producing against Southeast’s zone defense. But twice in the fourth quarter, the margin dipped to three points before the Stallions pulled away.
Lyric McNair’s 10 points and Aaliyah Durna’s eight points were tops for Fairmont (24-2).
Southeast is lowest-seeded team among the eight regional finalists across all four girls’ classifications.
How Western did it …
Senior guard Allie Sykes scored 31 points in her last home game.
“We were locked in,” Sykes said. “We definitely had different intensity.”
That was evident by a super-charged atmosphere.
“The crowd was lit,” Western senior Xiomara Moser said. “We’re all lit.”
The second-seeded Warriors had all they could handle from Union Pines senior Ashanti Fox, an Elon recruit who racked up 35 points. The Vikings finished 27-2.
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Western trailed for most of the first quarter before Sykes’ 3-pointer. Tina Bowers and Sykes connected on 3s for the last two baskets of the first half as the Warriors staked a 28-24 halftime lead.
It looked good for Western when it built a 39-31 lead, capped by a Bowers 3.
“We came out the second half and moved it better,” first-year coach Tooey Loy said.
But third-seeded Union Pines rattled off an 11-2 bust – with nine points coming on three 3s by Fox. After the last one, she was assessed a technical foul for her reaction to the basket.
Sykes made both free throws awarded for the technical to regain the lead for the Warriors. She sank a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
“We really responded and stayed together,” Loy said.
To open the fourth quarter, the Warriors collected an offensive rebound before Moser drilled a 3-poiner for a 49-42 lead.
“Once we hit the 3 to go up (seven), if we got it back they were going to have to chase us,” Loy said.
Western didn’t make another shot from the field. Among the string of attempted foul shots, Sykes went 12-for-14 on free throws the rest of the way.
Moser finished with 10 points and Bowers had nine points. Sykes made four 3s and Moser and Bowers each had two.
Western shot 21-for-28 at the free-throw line.
Now, it’s off to a different type of venue. Joel Coliseum is home to the Wake Forest men’s and women’s basketball teams and the site of past NCAA Tournament games.
“I’m ready for the experience, for sure,” Moser said.
The Warriors, who cut down the nets, have advanced one round deeper into the state playoffs than last year.
“That feels good,” Sykes said. “We got more work to do.”
