By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Natalie Lopez scored 14 points and Southeast Alamance held off Chapel Hill to win 53-46 in the championship game of the Holiday Hoopla for girls’ basketball Monday night.
It marked the first tournament championship in any sport for the 2-year-old school.
Shaniya Paylor was the Most Valuable Player as the host Stallions completed a three-game sweep in the eight-team event.
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“We were concerned about their size,” Southeast coach Amy Sarratt said. “I thought we did a good job (with rebounding).”
Clara LaChapelle had eight of her 12 points in the second half and Paylor ended up with eight points.
The Stallions (8-1) led 27-24 at halftime despite shooting 8-for-18 on free throws. Rreanna Johnson shot 5-for-6 from the foul line for Southeast’s only second-half free-throw attempts.
It was as close as 43-40 in the fourth quarter, but the Stallions didn’t relinquish the lead.
“There’s a little confidence there,” Sarratt said.
LaChapelle and Lopez were also on the all-tournament team.
Southeast had quite a path to reach the final, beginning with Friday night’s 74-72 double-overtime victory against Orange.
The Stallions trailed 50-41 with less than four minutes to play in regulation, but stormed to a 52-47 lead. Lopez’s 3-pointer broke a 50-50 tie and Paylor’s basket off a rebound made it 55-52. Missed free throws were costly before LaChapelle’s 3-pointer tied the game at the 30-second mark.
Orange had chances to win three times – a missed layup at the end of regulation, going 1-for-2 on free throws in the waning seconds of the first overtime and an off-the-mark 3-pointer on the game’s last shot.
LaChapelle finished with 20 points, Paylor had 19 and Johnson notched 15.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Southeast defeated Eastern Alamance for the third time this season, winning 52-25. Paylor scored 14 points and LaChapelle had 11.
Chapel Hill’s first tournament game was a 73-15 cruising past Northeast Guilford before knocking off Western Alamance. Chapel Hill’s Rihanna Gregory and Dezariyah Clark were all-tourney picks.
Western Alamance finished third. The Warriors opened by topping Durham Jordan 50-31 before falling 52-48 to Chapel Hill.
Western won 64-53 against Eastern Alamance (5-7) in Monday’s third-place game. The teams meet again Friday night in a Central 3-A Conference game at Western (9-2).
Eastern Alamance began the tournament with a 52-50 victory against defending champion Green Level.
In the fifth-place game, Durham Jordan (9-4) defeated Green Level 45-41. Seventh place went to Orange (5-6), a 60-28 winner against Northeast Guilford (2-8). Green Level is 7-5.
Western’s Cayden White, Eastern’s Makayla Scott, Durham Jordan’s Valerie-Ange Batta, Green Level’s Claire Barber, Orange’s Maura McMurtry and Northeast Guilford’s Kiyah Sherman also comprised the all-tournament team.
