The Clinton Lady Dark Horses hosted Jacksonville Northside in the regional semifinal round of the NCHSAA 2-A basketball playoffs on Wednesday night. The No. 2 seed Lady Horses were looking to avenge a December loss to the Lady Monarchs, while the No. 9 seed Northside squad was hoping to pull another upset and earn a trip to the Eastern finals on Saturday. Northside kept the game close in the early going, but the Lady Dark Horses were too much this time around as they slowly pulled away for the 69-56 win, putting them one win away from an appearance in the State Championship.
Clinton used two consecutive 3-pointers from Mikayla Boykin and a Tanaziah Chestnutt steal and layup at the 6:02 mark of the first quarter to open up an early 12-4 lead. Northside clawed back cutting the Clinton lead to 15-12, but Ashlyn Williams knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining in the first quarter and Boykin added a close range basket on a slashing drive to extend the lead to 20-12, matching Clinton’s biggest lead at the end of the first quarter.
Northside employed full court pressure early in the second quarter and it seemed to give the Lady Dark Horses some trouble. When the Lady Monarchs intercepted a cross-court pass and scored on the other end they had cut the lead to 20-16 at the 6:32 mark of the second frame. Northside continued their run cutting the Clinton lead to one at 20-19, before Alex Canady finally broke the ice for the Lady Dark Horses with a 3-pointer from the corner with 5:10 remaining in the first half.
Canady’s long range bomb triggered a Clinton run as the Lady Dark Horses outscored Northside 11-0 over a 3:18 stretch to enlarge the lead to 31-19 at the 1:22 mark of the second quarter. After a timeout to regroup the Lady Monarch’s Adella Burrell hit a 3-pointer to cut the Clinton lead to single digits at 31-22. Neither team was able to score in the last minute of the half, sending Clinton to the break with a commanding 9-point lead.
Canady opened the second half with a 5 point explosion, lifting the Lady Dark Horses lead to 36-22, ripping the momentum away from the Lady Monarchs during a crucial stretch. When Boykin drilled a 3-pointer in front of the student section at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter, the Lady Horses had a 41-27 lead and the home crowd began to taste the victory. By the end of the third quarter Clinton had regained a 16-point margin at 50-34.
Clinton built the lead to as much as 21 points midway through the final quarter, capitalizing on several Lady Monarch turnovers for easy baskets. Northside refused to give in, continuing to apply full court pressure and did cut into the Lady Dark Horse lead, but it was too little, too late as the capacity crowd began the celebration with a chant of “final four, final four” in the waning moments of the game.
The Dark Horses were led by Boykin’s game-high 36 points and 17 rebounds. Canady had 12 points and Williams added 11 for the Lady Dark Horses. Kayla Stephens paced the Lady Monarchs with 20 points and Burrell added 18 on six 3-point baskets for Northside.
After the game, an emotional Clinton head coach Chris Owens praised his team’s grit.
“The girls told me all day today that they were not going to let me down,” the coach said. “They really came together and played a good game tonight. I am so proud of them and just so lucky they are taking me along for the ride.”
Owens continued by heaping praise on his senior star.
“Mikayla came up big for us again tonight,” he said. “She had three 3-pointers in the first quarter to open up some breathing room for us. We have ridden her all year long — I trust her, I believe in her … she is just a special, special player and she makes all her teammates better.”
The coach recognized the importance of coming out strong in the third quarter, adding, “we told the girls at halftime that if they came out and won the first four minutes of the second half, we would win the game. I don’t think we allowed them to score a field goal until the final three minutes of the third quarter. That great defensive play was really huge for us, it put us over the top and put the game out of reach.”
Boykin and Canady echoed their coach’s comments about the importance of a quick start in the second half.
“We expected them to come out really strong on us in the second half. We had to really prepare ourselves mentally to be the aggressor,” said Cannady.
Added Boykin, “we just kept our foot on the gas the whole way and took them out of the game.”
Boykin talked after the game about getting a second chance against Northside and the opportunity to draw one game closer to the goal of a state championship.
“We wanted revenge tonight,” the senior said. “They beat us earlier in the season and the main goal was revenge. We felt like we played a horrible game the first time out and we just wanted to come out and get the win. Our main goal is the state championship and Northside was in the way. We had to take care of business and get the win.”
Clinton improves their record to 28-2 with their win over the Lady Monarchs. The Lady Horses now advance to the Eastern Regional Finals at Methodist University on Saturday afternoon where they will face Bartlett Yancey. The Lady Bucs are 24-6 on the season and earned their spot in the regional finals with their 48-39 win over top-seeded Bertie on Tuesday night.
Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 4 p.m. and admission is $9.
