Balanced scoring vital as Clayton, Rolesville split boys and girls basketball games
In basketball, the name of the game is scoring and the more the merrier as Clayton and Rolesville found out as the boys and girls basketball teams squared off in a night of Greater Neuse River Conference action.
Three was the magic number as the team that managed three players in double figures in each of the games came away victorious.
The Rams took the opener in the girls game 48-34 as the trio of Morgan Brown, Valencia Carroll and Jaylin Powell would have been able to best the Comets themselves combining for 37 of Rolesville’s points.
In the nightcap, the Clayton boys basketball team also benefited from an offensively potent threesome as the Comets kept rolling with a 65-49 win to improve to 13-3 on the season and 5-1 in the GNRC.
Tre Armstead, McCaleb Roberston and Darius Stevens combined for 51 points as all three hit double digits to help the Comets pull away from a pesky Rolesville squad.
Boys: Clayton 65, Rolesville 49
Not only did the Clayton boys basketball team follow the night’s theme of translating three double digit scorers into a win, but the Comets also used the three-ball as a big weapon in their 16-point victory.
Combined, the Comets hit 8-of-13 treys for the game. McCaleb Roberston drained four such shots to finish the game with 17 points while Tre Armstead knocked down one from deep on his way to 16 points.
However, it was Darius Stevens who may have done the most damage by leading Clayton in scoring with 18 points as the forward did a lot of damage attacking the rim and hitting the offensive glass.
“We had balanced scoring,” Clayton coach Denny Medlin said. “Darius Stevens was real active inside and on the boards so that was a big plus for us.”
The Rams began to chip away at the double-digit lead secured by Clayton in the opening half by getting hot from the perimeter in the third quarter. Messiah Cleveland and Ricky Clemons both connected on pair of three-pointers in the third quarter as Rolesville (5-11, 2-4) trimmed the lead to four points near the end of the period.
However, Robertson scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Comets pull away for the comfortable win.
Clemons finished with 15 points while Cleveland ended the game with 12 points.
Girls: Rolesville 48, Clayton 34
The Rolesville girls basketball team is used to Jaylin Powell leading the way offensively but it was Morgan Brown and her nine first half points that helped the Rams build a humble six-point lead by halftime.
Asides from Brown early on, not many other Rams were finding their rhythm offensively but a valiant defensive effort from Rolesville limited Clayton (5-9, 1-4) to a single field goal in the second quarter, which allowed Rolesville to slowly add to its lead.
Valencia Carroll came off the bench and supplied the Rams (8-8, 3-3) with 10 points and Powell caught fire in the second half to once again lead the team with 16 points while also pulling down eight rebounds. Brown finished with 11 points.
“Sometime we have a hard time scoring,” said Rolesville coach Clinton Williams. “Any time we get contributions from multiple people, we usually do okay.”
For Clayton, Au’Shanna Langley came through with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind three-point range but no other Comet was able to hit double digits as the Rolesville defense did a good job collapsing in the paint. As Clayton’s guards utilized dribble penetration to get into the lane, the rest of the Rams slid over to prevent any easy looks at the basket.
This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 12:51 AM with the headline "Balanced scoring vital as Clayton, Rolesville split boys and girls basketball games."