AYDEN — Ayden-Grifton nearly earned its first trip to the regional since 2007, but it wasn’t meant to be, as the seventh-seeded Chargers fell 69-61 to No. 11 Pamlico in the third round of the state 1A playoffs Friday night.
For nearly three quarters, the Chargers (15-12) played like they were on a mission to reach the Crown Center in Fayetteville for next week’s regionals before falling just short against the Hurricanes (14-12).
Two days after upsetting second-seeded Goldsboro 57-54 — their first win in four tries this season — the upstart Chargers found themselves in the unlikely scenario of hosting a third round playoff game after Pamlico notched an upset of their own with a 67-64 overtime win over No. 3 Wallace-Rose Hill Wednesday night.
In Friday’s game, the Chargers shot lights out in the field throughout the first half, building their lead to as many as 13 points on two separate occasions in the second quarter. Ayden shot 13 of 30 (43 percent) from the field in the half and, perhaps more impressively, connected on six of 10 shots (60 percent) from long range.
It was a different story in the second half, as the 3-point shot deserted the Chargers. Ayden hit only 1 of 8 trifectas (12.5 percent) in the game’s final 16 minutes.
“You live and die by the 3,” Chargers coach John Moye said. “Tonight, we died by the 3.”
That wasn’t the case in the first quarter, when Rondell Bell and Brandon Larry hit on three consecutive treys to stake an early 16-9 lead. The Chargers hit five of their first eight shots, a task nearly matched by the Hurricanes’ 4-of-8 start that hinted at the barn burner to come.
Ayden-Grifton stayed hot in the second quarter and stretched its lead to a game-high 13 points at 33-20 on a 5-of-6 start from the floor. Things slowly started to change in the third, as Pamlico chipped away at its deficit, taking its first lead of the evening on a DJ Lewis layup with 2:51 to play in the quarter. That shot gave the Hurricanes a 42-41 lead, and a subsequent bucket by Jermicus Brown put Pamlico up by three before Ayden-Grifton responded by scoring the final eight points of the quarter to take a 49-44 lead.
The lead changed hands several times in the final period as raucous cheering sections from each school tried to will their respective teams to victory.
The Chargers tied the game at 57 on a baseline floater from Bell before the Hurricanes went on a mini-run to take control in the final minutes. Ultimately, though, the Chargers’ poor shooting effort doomed them, as they hit on just 10-of-30 (33 percent) shots in the second half.
“I thought we settled too much in the second half,” Moye said. “We needed to drive more. We talked to the kids about stop waiting for someone else to do something. We were too stationary.”
On the other end, the Hurricanes, led by Lewis, were anything but stationary. The 5-foot-9 junior point guarded slashed the Chargers to ribbons, penetrating his way to 13 points, all in the second half. Brown added a double-double, scoring 18 points to go along with 17 boards.
“We let (Lewis) drive too far into the lane,” Moye said. “The penetration by them was very effective.”
The Chargers were led by three players in double figures. Larry finished with a game-high 21 points, followed by Geremi Dixon with 17 and Bell with 13.
With the win, Pamlico will make its first regionals appearance since 2008.
Pamlico 12 16 16 25—69
Ayden-Grifton 19 16 14 12—61
HURRICANES (14-12) — Jermicus Brown 18, D.J. Lewis 13, Josiah Simmons 11, Arthur Randall 10, Bennett 9, Gibbs 6, Heath 2.
CHARGERS (15-12) — Brandon Larry 21, Geremi Dixon 17, Rondell Bell 13, Harper 8, Wright 2.