Although first place was out of the question South Lenoir’s girls were still playing for second.
The Blue Devils got it.
Heather West had 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals and Demeyia Adams and Marquia Suddeth added double-doubles themselves as South Lenoir upset host Clinton 56-51 in the regular season finale on Friday.
Adams had 13 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks and Suddeth scored 14 points, grabbed 10 boards and added two blocks as the Blue Devils (17-5, 11-3 East Central 2A) withstood a late 13-2 run by the Dark Horses and finished tied with East Duplin for second place.
Jacksonville Northside defeated the Panthers 50-37 Friday to claim the championship outright. A coin toss will take place today at Richlands to determine which team gets the No. 2 seed in next week’s conference tournament.
Caroline Jones had seven points and three steals and Hanna Meready had seven points with Meosha Franklin grabbing seven rebounds for South Lenoir.
ERWIN TRITON 40, NORTH LENOIR 35: At Triton, North Lenoir fell in the regular season finale on Thursday.
North Lenoir (2-22, 0-12 Eastern Carolina 3A) finished last in the league and will travel to No. 2 Triton for an opening round game of the conference tournament at 6 p.m. on Monday.
Other area girls scores:
Greene Central 64, Farmville Central 54
East Carteret 56, Jones Senior 46
BOYS BASKETBALL
CLINTON 78, SOUTH LENOIR 61: At Clinton, the Blue Devils were marred by poor free throw shooting and bad first and third quarters in the loss.
Jonte Midgette scored 15 points, Jaquan Wooten scored 15 points, had 14 rebounds and five blocks and Ishmael Baldwin added 12 points for South Lenoir (11-8, 9-5), which hit 28 of 48 free throws and was outscored 44-20 in the first and third quarters combined.
The teams combined for 65 fouls. Clinton finished the regular season tied for Jacksonville Northside, which defeated East Duplin Friday, for first place.
ERWIN TRITON 71, NORTH LENOIR 67: At Triton, North Lenoir’s huge fourth-quarter rally fell short Thursday as it finished the regular season tied for third in the EC3A with C.B. Aycock.
As a result, North Lenoir (12-12, 7-5) drew the 4-seed in next week’s conference tournament and will host fifth-seeded South Johnston at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
In Thursday’s game North Lenoir scored 39 points in the fourth quarter, 26 by Zongio Troy, as it tried to rally from a 46-28 deficit after three quarters. Troy, who scored a game-high 32 points, hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone.
North Lenoir went 12-for-22 from the free throw line and hit just one field goal in the third quarter.
Other area boys scores:
Farmville Central 74, Greene Central 73
East Carteret 92, East Carteret 81