Western Harnett forfeits three, Triton, Overhills to vie for title
February 21, 2009 North Carolina
By Patrick Love
Dunn Daily Record
Spectators were treated to an eventful night at the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference girls basketball tournament semifinals Wednesday.
Top-seeded Western Harnett, the night's host, was ousted from the tournament without ever taking the floor, Overhills pulled off arguably the biggest win in its girls basketball history, and a Triton-Harnett Central game few knew was happening made for a gut-wrenching nightcap.
Harnett Central, the eighth-seed for the tournament, thought its season ended in the first round on Monday when it became Western Harnett's 25th victim in a 25-0 start to the season. But Wednesday, players were called out of class and presented with a shocker.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has ruled that Western Harnett reserve forward Kiki Trapp was academically ineligible for the final two games of the regular season and Monday's conference tournament win over Harnett Central. Western, the defending conference tournament champion, has forfeited all three games and as a result was ineligible to participate in the conference tournament last night.
Kiki Trapp's father, Franklin Trapp, defended his daughter's academics, saying she has a high B in the class in question but that the proper paperwork was not submitted to the state board. A statement from the Western Harnett athletic department called the infraction "an oversight of the eligibility paperwork by the WHHS athletic department."
"I just hate it, because there are a lot of rumors going around, and people just don't know," Franklin Trapp said, adding he's hopeful a review board will reinstate his daughter's eligibility before the state playoffs begin.
As it stands, Western will enter the Class 3-A playoffs with a 22-3 overall record. The Lady Eagles will still enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed from the Cape Fear Valley Conference.
"We'll be OK," said Western Harnett athletic director and girls basketball coach Lewis Cummings. "I don't need to say anything else, just move on."
Western Harnett's removal from the conference tournament left second-seeded Union Pines as the highest remaining girls' seed, meaning the Cameron school was in line to host last night's semifinals as well as Friday's boys and girls conference tournament finals, which are being held this year at the highest remaining girls' seed. But with everything happening on such short notice, Union Pines declined to move last night's games.
The Lady Vikings may now regret that decision, as they were then upset 35-30 by third-seeded Overhills, which leaves Overhills as the highest remaining girls seed to host Friday's championship games.
The Lady Jaguars' opponent in the finals will be fourth-seeded Triton, which survived a stiff test from rival Harnett Central to win 41-38 in the nightcap.
Friday's girls championship will begin at 6 p.m. and will be immediately followed by the boys championship.
Triton 41, Harnett Central 38
For not knowing its girls basketball season was still alive until yesterday afternoon, Harnett Central played surprisingly well. The Lady Trojans led 11-9 after the first quarter, 19-17 at halftime and 27-25 at the end of the third quarter.
"You've got to give them credit. For not knowing they had a game today, they gave us all we wanted," said Triton coach Ashley Ennis.
Triton (14-10) tied the game at 29 on a Jasmin Hicks basket with 6:54 remaining in the fourth quarter then took control within the span of 40 seconds. Shakiyla Williams nailed a 3-pointer with 5:47 to play, and after a Hicks steal, Darian McNeill found the bottom of the net from 3-point range to give Triton a 35-29 lead with 5:07 remaining.
"We usually only make about one 3-pointer a game, so to hit two back-to-back, that really gave us some momentum and gave us the lift we needed to finish the game," said Ennis, who was an assistant coach the last time Triton's girls won the conference tournament championship in 2006-07.
Harnett Central would cut its deficit to two points on a pair of Markita Spencer free throws with 1:41 remaining, but Triton's defense snuffed any hopes of a comeback.
Hicks led the Lady Hawks with 17 points, seven steals, six rebounds and three assists. Williams added seven points and three steals. Shakia Kirksey and Shelby Jackson finished with six points apiece, with Jackson grabbing five rebounds, and McNeill scored five points and added three steals.
Last season's conference tournament runner-up, Harnett Central (6-18) was led by 13 points from Kristen Baker.
Even though his team lost, Central coach Bennie Pollock said he was his team made the trip.
"It sure feels a lot better ending tonight than Monday," he said.
Overhills 35, Union Pines 30
Overhills (21-4) outscored Union Pines 14-3 in the final period, and the best basketball season in Overhills' five-year school history just got more interesting.
"It's a priviledge and a honor to be able to host the conference tournament championship at home," said Overhills coach Adelina Gentry. "This season has been such a big celebration for our school. We're already a close family, and this will bring us together even more."
Trailing 27-21 at the end of three quarters, Overhills' Felicia Bennett scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to pull the Lady Jaguars within 27-26.
After a Union Pines free throw, Miraya Gentry nailed a 3-pointer to give Overhills a 29-28 lead it would not relinquish with 5:02 remaining.
Union Pines cut its deficit to 31-30 on a Tyesha McLean basket with 1:37 to play, but Jasmine Canady answered with a drive and layup to extend the Overhills lead to 33-30, and on the ensuing possession, Miraya Gentry came up with a steal and layup to seal the win.
"We played basically one quarter of basketball, and that did it," said Adelina Gentry.
The Lady Jaguars had 25 turnovers in the game but turned the ball over only once in the fourth quarter. Overhills won the rebounding battle 30-18.
Janetta Felton finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead Overhills. Bennett added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Alishia Mosley led Union Pines (19-7) with 12 points, and McLean added 10.
With the Lady Jaguars' ticket to the conference tournament finals already punched, the second-seeded Overhills boys team will try to punch its ticket to the Friday's boys championship when it faces sixth-seeded Triton in tonight's boys semifinals being hosted at Southern Lee at 6 p.m. Top-seeded Southern Lee will play four-seed Harnett Central in the late boys semifinal. |
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