RALEIGH -- Southern Durham didn't take the court at Southeast Raleigh Wednesday night with a chip on its shoulder, but after the game was over a lot of folks wondered how the Spartans were seeded so low.
Seniors Chandrica Fuller led the way with 19 points and Jade Bracey added 16 as the No. 7 seed Spartans held on in a 57-56 thriller over the No. 2 seed Bulldogs in the second round of the NCHSAA 4A basketball playoffs.
Kaleisha Moore led the Bulldogs with 14 points, followed by Amara Bell with 13 and Amber Richardson with 12.
The result means the senior-laden Spartans (22-4), who finished second in the PAC-6 and lost to conference champion and archrival Hillside three times, will be hosting the sectional championship against either Sanderson or Greenville Rose Friday night.
The season is over for the Greater Neuse River champion Bulldogs (23-4), who saw their eight-game winning streak end.
"It was a good basketball game for 32 minutes," said Southern Durham coach Kendrick Hall, who became the Spartans coach just a couple of weeks before practice began. "We got ahead right there at the end, but I knew Southeast was going to make a run because they're a good team."
Southeast took a 7-2 lead but the visitors rallied for a 12-9 advantage at the quarter on Janetta Hunt's three-point play with 7.9 seconds left.
The Spartans scored the first six points of the second and led for a long time after that. Richardson's layup from Hicks with 4:52 left in the third cut the lead to 32-31, but Southern rallied to take it back to 43-36 with 1:23 left in the quarter.
"We could have gotten blown out, but we fought back," said Southeast coach Nicole Meyers. "I think that said a lot about the character of our players."
