Clayton boys & girls basketball sweeps West Johnston

Both the Clayton boys and girls varsity basketball teams picked up big wins over Greater Neuse River Conference opponent West Johnston on Friday night.

Both teams led from start to finish and won their games with relatively no problem. The Clayton girls team won 58-32 while the boys team was victorious 76-51.

GIRLS

The girls win keeps the Comets (14-8, 6-6) in the middle of the conference standings while West Johnston (3-16, 0-10) remains winless.

Clayton was led by sophomore guard Asia Todd, who had a game-high 30 points to go along with 3 assists. Junior guard Janasia Cannon contributed with nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

“I feel like I did pretty good although I didn’t finish as much as I normally do,” Todd said. “I could have made more shots than I normally make but as a team we did pretty good. We just wanted to push the ball up the floor.”

The Comets led from start to finish and scored most of their points in transition after turnovers or defensive rebounds.

“Early on we got a little sluggish,” said Clayton coach Marlon Lee. “But as the quarters progressed I think our defense and our offensive transition got us playing the way we wanted to play.”

West Johnston senior guard Nadia Blevins led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points with two made three-pointers.

Though the game was within 10 late in the third quarter, West Johnston was never able to close the gap due to the devastating Clayton fast breaks.

“Clayton likes to run and by the third quarter we didn’t have any legs left,” said West Johnston coach Laura Jefferson. “It just kind of fell apart from there.”

BOYS

In the boys game, Clayton (11-10, 6-6) dominated and led wire to wire. After beginning the game on an 8-2 run, the Comets never led the lead get within two possessions again. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for them.

West Johnston (2-18, 0-11) remained winless in conference and suffered their 17th straight loss on the season.

The first quarter was marked by the hot shooting of Clayton senior guard Kenny Anderson. Anderson went 4-for-4 on three-pointers in the first quarter and led the team in scoring for the game with 22 points.

“Our guards are pretty quick and can get to the rim,” Clayton coach Denny Medlin said. “They executed pretty well and moved the ball pretty well so we had and advantage there and on the boards, I think.”

The catalyst for the Comets’ offensive attack was junior guard MaCaleb Robertson who dished out 11 assists to go with his 9 points for the game. Robertson was able to penetrate into the paint and will and kick out to shooters like Anderson who knocked down their open shots.

“We did pretty well and shot the ball well,” Robertson said. “At the beginning (of the season) we were selfish all the time and now we’re bonding and getting together and playing as a team.”

West Johnston was not able to score inside the paint and relied mostly on jump shooting and free throws to score most of their points. Junior guard Jakim Graham led the Wildcats with 15 points.

“Offensively I thought we hit some shots,” West Johnston coach Scotty Williams said. “I would have liked to have fed the post some more. You’ve got to have an outside and inside game and in a couple of key moments our inside wasn’t where it should be.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Clayton boys & girls basketball sweeps West Johnston."