Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament tips off

The second annual Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament kicked off at Lakewood Thursday afternoon, with four games in the first round and four more taking place Friday for the championship and consolation brackets. Four total Sampson County teams — both the boys’ and girls’ teams from Clinton and Lakewood — took on competition from surrounding areas in holiday hardwood showcase. One championship game will feature all Sampson County action, while another will have the county represented by half the teams.

Clinton (girls) vs. Wallace-Rose Hill

The Lady Dark Horses opened up the tournament with a win over the Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs, securing the decisive 71-40 without one of their key players in Rubi Davila, who is sidelined with a foot injury.

Jayla Pickett took the tipoff for the Horses, and she successfully got it to Daniyah Coxum for the opening possession. Phoenix Everett took an early open three on the first possession, which missed, but a steal shortly after gave her a layup. Jayla followed shortly after with a steal and layup of her own, and Coxum added another steal early, but was unsuccessful on her shot attempt. Jayla added another shot from the elbow, and with 6:31 left in the first quarter, Wallace took its first timeout after Clinton jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

The typical smothering full-court press, which moved to a 3-2 zone in the back court was the defense setup by the Horses, and it showed its strengths early, forcing errors up and down the hardwood.

The teams started trading possessions midway through the quarter, as forced and unforced errors came from both teams. The Bulldogs finally got on the board with an open three at the five minute mark, and Everett followed it up with a three point attempt of her own, but couldn’t get it to fall. The score stayed at 6-3 in favor of the Lady Horses past the four minute mark, as Janiya Mosley couldn’t connect on two free throws.

The Lady Bulldogs brought it back to a one point lead at 6-5 at just over two minutes, but a steal from Ciara Stuart shortly after gave them back an 8-5 advantage. Back-to-back successful possessions from Wallace allowed them to jump out to a 10-8 lead just before the opening period ended, and then added two more to make it a 12-8 lead going into the first break.

Everett opened the second quarter with a three to bring it back to 12-11, still in Wallace’s favor. She grabbed a steal at the other end of the court and was fouled on a shot, where she made one of her two from the free throw line.

Quickly the Horses grabbed a 16-12 lead from plays by Stuart, Jayla Pickett, and Coxum, but the Bulldogs snagged the lead at 17-16 with over six minutes remaining in the second.

Everett pushed Clinton back into the lead with a three to give them the 19-17 advantage as the two teams played tug-of-war for time of possession and momentum. It was Jayla Pickett who came up with back-to-back steals and assists to help push them back to the 23-17 lead with under five minutes to play in the half.

She gave them two more on foul shots and their lead grew to 25-19. Mosley made a heads-up pass that looked to be a shot, as she dished it to a teammate deep in the paint. Everett cleaned up the board and grew the Horses’ lead to 10.

It was Coxum’s turn with a sneaky pass — a bounce to Jayla at the free throw line for the jumper. She then hit a triple of her own on the next possession, and an Everett steal that went coast-to-coast propelled Clinton to the 34-17 lead with under two minutes to play in the half. A rebound from Janiyah Simmons led to a put-back layup for the Horses as time expired in the half, and the score sat at 38-19 as the teams broke for the second time.

Scoring opened for both teams in the second half with consecutive steals from Stuart and Mosley, who took them to the other end for the score to make it 42-19 early in the closing half. The Bulldogs answered with a basket of their own, but the Horses were right there with another steal.

Back-to-back fouls were called on Clinton right at the six minute mark, but Wallace was only able to grab two points from the trips to the line before Everett scored another layup. Halftime adjustments seemed to be working, although slowly, for the Bulldogs, as they were able to break through the press much better in the third period of the contest for more offensive opportunities.

That didn’t stop Mosley from continuing the onslaught, and with 5:04 to go in the third, she hit a three-pointer to give them the 47-25 advantage. She followed it up shortly with a layup to make it 49-25.

Scoring started to slow down as the game moved into the latter stages of the quarter, as the teams traded just five points between them over the course of a couple minutes. Wallace’s head coach was handed a technical foul at 2:47, giving Clinton two foul shots and possession. Stuart hit one of the shots, creeping their lead up to 51-27.

A pass got pick pocketed by Giana Smith with under a minute to go in the quarter, who fed Simmons for a layup. It was Simmons on the next in bound to stole it and and was fouled on the ensuing attempt. The Clinton lead sat at 55-31 as the game moved to the fourth quarter.

The pestering defense of the Lady Horses continued to bother the Bulldogs into the fourth quarter, causing a series of errors on both ends of the court. Everett, Coxum, Stuart, and Jayla Pickett continued to shine for Clinton as the Dark Horses asserted their dominance. The lead grew to 57-39 with 6:07 on the clock.

Stuart connected with Everett after another steal, and Clinton grabbed the 61-41 lead with under five to go. Regardless of what Wallace did, the Bulldogs couldn’t mount a comeback late in the game, even with the Horses putting many of their reserves in.

Clinton held onto their 20-point advantage for most the last quarter, trading periodic blows with the Bulldogs down the stretch. With 1:30 remaining, they led 67-47 and were cruising to the victory in first game of of the 2024 Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament.

As the final buzzer sounded, Clinton won by a score of 71-40.

“It feels good,” Chris Owens, head coach for the Lady Horses said. “Everyone knows their roles and everyone wanted to win for Rubi (Davila), because she wanted to be a part of it, but she was a part of it on the bench. I felt like our girls played pretty good — coming out in the first quarter a little bit sloppy, but once we got rolling and got our feet up under us, we did pretty good.”

Owens said Davila has been cleared by doctors to return, but is still day-to-day, but they “aren’t going to let her go unless she feels comfortable going.”

Clinton squared off with Lakewood in the championship game for the girls Friday evening.

Clinton (boys) vs. South Lenoir

Clinton boys’ basketball team looked to grab its first win of the season against South Lenoir, and a late-game surge nearly pushed them to the win, but the Blue Devils — a team that has already beaten Clinton twice this season — held on and won, 68-52.

The Horses won the tipoff, which allowed Amir Wright to get the ball the court for the first possession, but it was squandered away with a South Lenoir steal. The Blue Devils opened the game with four unanswered points, after which Dark Horse coach Michael Boykin signaled for their first timeout just 1:41 into the game.

The low block is where the Blue Devils were scoring their points from, with a powerful front court that the Horses couldn’t stop. The score showed 10-0 in favor of South Lenoir as Boykin called for the second timeout with 4:39 to play in the opening period. The lead continued to grow, with Clinton still scoreless, when the Blue Devils grabbed the 12-0 lead on a layup.

Ivey Sampson made the first basket for the Horses with 3:10 left in the first on a layup on which he was fouled. South Lenoir led 14-2 after an unsuccessful foul shot.

Things moved back to how they had been, though, and the Devils continued to pour on the points, making it 18-2 with less than two minutes to go in the first. The South Lenoir lead was protected on a chase down block of a Clinton layup, furthering the Horses’ woes.

Clinton grabbed two more points before the opener ended, cutting the lead to just 18-4 as the teams broke for the intermission.

The second quarter opened with another Blue Devil basket and it was followed by a turnover from Clinton. Anyahs Butler was able to snag a steal and get down to the other end for a layup, making it a 20-6 score with over seven minutes to go in the half. Dustin Pike assisted Henry Bass on a shot shortly after, and it became a 22-8 game.

The game started to slow down for both teams, allowing them to set up more established offenses instead of living off of fast breaks and the like. With 4:30 of basketball left in the half, South Lenoir led 26-8.

Butler added another basket half a minute later, and the Dark Horses finally hit double digits with four minutes to go in the opening half. Jabari Daughtry added another point on a free throw on the next possession. Bass hit a mid range floater with just under two minutes to play, which made it a 30-13 game.

A steal from Butler led to a layup attempt at the other end, which Bass almost cleaned up for a put back dunk, but slightly misjudged the timing of the play. Butler grabbed a steal on the rebound and got quick redemption from his missed layup with a successful bucket this time.

The score showed a 33-15 Blue Devil lead at halftime of the second game of the day and tournament.

Bass assisted Taylen Moore on the first points of the third quarter, a layup in front of the hoop that was fed from the low block. The Blue Devils answered quickly with two baskets of their own, making it a 37-17 lead for them.

The Dark Horses answered back with two baskets of their own: first, a pass from Butler to Bass gave him an easy layup and then Moore got a jumper from the high key near the foul line. The South Lenoir lead was cut down to 37-21 with 5:18 remaining in the third.

Bass made the connection with Garrison Hill for another low block assist, and on the Horses’ next possession Bass was sent to the free throw line, where he sank one of the two shots. Assists were coming in bunches for Clinton, as Butler dished it to Daughtry on the wing for a three, cutting the Blue Devil lead to 41-27. Butler was sent to the free throw line himself shortly after, where he also sank one, but Clinton retained possession on the rebound.

Another trip to the line netted Bass and the Horses another point, and the South Lenoir lead was cut to 43-29 with 1:48 to play in the quarter. Clinton continued their pacing and found themselves with just a 12 point deficit — cut down from 20 at times — as they moved closer to the final period of action.

A technical foul on South Lenoir gave Daughtry a chance at two free throws, but he couldn’t connect on either with just 4.4 seconds left in the third quarter. The Blue Devils opened things back to a 47-33 lead before the closing of the period.

The fourth quarter opened up with scoring for both teams, as the Blue Devils added four and the Horses three just past a minute played in the final portion of the game, but things opened up further for South Lenoir as the clock continued moving.

With 5:10 to play, the Blue Devils widened things out to a 58-40 lead, but not because of a lack of effort from Bass, Daughtry, and crew.

Moore found himself with another floater through the middle of the lane near the midway mark in the fourth, and Hill added a three to cut the deficit to 58-45 with under four minutes to play.

Hill came up with a block on the defensive side, which turned into an assist from him to Wright at the other end, cutting the lead down even further, with the scoreboard showing a 58-47 South Lenoir lead with 3:05 to play. Clinton called for another timeout and had just one remaining from this point. Another steal gave Butler free throws on a foul, and his two points from the line cut the lead to eight.

Dark Horse head coach Michael Boykin received a technical foul with 1:55 to go after Bass fought through contact on a layup but no foul was called, upsetting the Clinton coach to the point of voicing his opinion to the referee.

After the foul shots by the Blue Devils and a three from Hill, South Lenoir led 64-52. The Blue Devils added two more on a layup from the low block and a full-court pass on their in-bound gave them the open layup for a 68-52 lead with under a minute to go.

That would be the final score as time expired.

“Keep building,” said Michael Boykin, on his team’s mindset after the game. “We got a young team, we want to keep building — to get better each game. We don’t want to take any steps backwards. Today, we took 18 steps forward, so we want to keep building on that to keep their confidence high, because we believe in them and we just need them to believe in themselves.”

The Dark Horses took on East Columbus in the consolation round of the tournament Friday afternoon.

Lakewood (girls) vs. Heide Trask

The Lady Leopards staked their undefeated non-conference record against the visiting Trask Lady Titans during Thursday evening’s game three of the Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament. What started out as a tremendous battle between the two squads gradually dissolved into a wide margin of victory for the home team as Lakewood claimed the victory, 62-40.

Though it was a total team effort, freshman Areona McKoy had a sensational game for the Lady Leopards, hitting clutch shots to keep her team in contention in the first half.

When the game entered the second half, McKoy and her Lakewood team went right to work, claiming the lead for good as they gradually extended their margin of victory.

By the time the final horn sounded, the Lady Leopards had run their advantage all the way to north of 20 points as they celebrated the 62-40 victory.

Areona McKoy led the Leopards with 27 points on the night. She also grabbed four rebounds, three assists, and seven steals. Teammates Takiyah Carr and Alexis Rhodes each had 10 points on the night as well. Carr snagged nine rebounds and added a steal and a block to her total, while Rhodes had one board and a steal. A’miyah Smith had nine points, one rebound, an assist, a block, and three steals.

“While it always feels good to win, especially by 20, it didn’t feel like (we won by 20) tonight,” head coach Lofton Kerr said in a post-game interview. “But my two freshman led the way. Takiyah Carr had 10 points and and nine boards — her best game yet. Areona McKoy had 25 points, seven steals, and four boards. I’m proud of them both, but we will need all hands on deck tonight if we want to beat our rival Lady Dark Horses — last year’s champions.”

Lakewood was now 5-0 on the season following the win and was set to appear in the championship game on Friday night. That matchup was against county-rival Clinton.

For Trask, they are now 4-7 on the season and were set to take on Wallace-Rose Hill in the third place game.

Lakewood (boys) vs. East Columbus

The Lakewood Leopards absorbed a tenacious effort from the visiting East Columbus Gators during Thursday night’s late game in the opening round of the Chasity Melvin Holiday Tournament. A game that saw momentum pendulum back and forth, it was the Leopards that usurped all the mojo in the latter phases of the game as they ran away with a 64-51 victory.

This contest was littered with runs from both teams. In the early going, the Gators came out blazing and staked an early lead. Lakewood, however, settled in and went to work. Surging past East Columbus and opening a 21-12 advantage. Like clockwork, though, the Gators grabbed hold of some confidence and mounted a surge that saw them charge past the home team and take a 30-25 halftime lead.

In the second half, though, the Leopards immediately dug in and went right to work. Lakewood surged past the Gators and established a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as Cameron Williams and Xavier Hall proved to be a dominant inside duo. East Columbus struggled to contain the pair and they gradually fell further and further behind. In the end, it was the Leopards that earned their spot in Friday’s championship game, claiming a 64-51 victory over the Gators.

Cameron Williams led Lakewood with 25 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Xavier Hall had the team’s only double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds, while adding an assist, a steal, and five blocks. Dashaun Carr had 18 points, four rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

“I am very proud of our second half effort versus East Columbus tonight,” Leopard head coach Brandon Powell said afterwards. “Juan Parker Jr. and Chris Carr took on a very difficult task of guarding a very good East Columbus player, holding him to eight points the entire second half, which was in my opinion, the primary difference in the game.”

He continued his comments, giving praise to more of his players for their efforts on the court. “Offensively, we had a stout performance by Cameron Williams with 25 points and nine rebounds. Dashaun ‘Truck’ Carr added 18 points, six assists, four steals, and took two charges during potentially momentum-changing plays. Freshman Xavier Hall continued to hold down the paint with 17 rebounds, five blocks, and added 11 points to extend his double-double streak to five straight games.”

With their delayed season opener because of football, the Leopards haven’t had the same season as everyone else, but Powell said that doesn’t affect them as much as it could. “We are still only in our second week of gameplay and practice, so we have a lot to work on, but I’m proud of the focus my guys are bringing to practice each day,” he added.

Lakewood is now 4-1 overall and was set to appear in the championship game on Friday against South Lenoir.