Ava Blackman puts up a shot for the Coats-Erwin girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Coats-Erwin clinched Harnett County Conference championships in both girls and boys middle school basketball Wednesday with wins over visiting Harnett Central to end the season.
The boys team took the outright conference title, while the girls split the conference championship with Highland. Highland and Coats-Erwin’s only girls losses this season were to each other.
Coats-Erwin closed the season with another strong defensive performance in the girls game, beating Harnett Central 41-20.
Coats-Erwin’s girls finished the season with a perfect record on their home court.
Three players tallied in double figures for the Falcons (11-1). Abby Hood had 15 points and Ava Blackman and Ashari Watlington had 10 points apiece. Marley Colville, Carleigh Hemby and Sueanna Bass had two points apiece.
Avery Fortune paced the Raiders with 12 points and Victoria Langdon and Tanira Edwards had four points apiece.
Coats-Erwin outscored Central 12-6 in the first quarter, 13-2 in the second and 12-6 in the third. Central took the fourth quarter 6-4.
Harnett Central’s boys finished the season with a strong effort and battled Coats-Erwin every step of the way, but the Falcons escaped with a 37-33 win.
William Heard had 16 points to lead the Falcons (11-1), Nate McKoy had eight points, Jalen Evans had seven points and James Shaw had six points.
The Raiders were led by 10 points from Jonathon Patterson.
Nicholas Avery had eight points, Camauri McDonald had six points, De’Marquez Rochelle had five points and Luke Frailey and Camryn Jones had two points apiece.
The game remained close throughout, with Coats-Erwin leading 8-4 at the end of the first quarter, 16-10 at halftime and 27-22 at the end of the third.
Late in the fourth after Patterson scored to cut the lead to 34-32, Heard was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Shaw got the rebound. He was fouled and made the first and missed the second free throw, but Heard got the rebound and was fouled again. He again missed the front end, but McKoy grabbed the rebound and scored to make it a two-possession game with just eight seconds left, putting the game out of reach.
The Coats-Erwin Middle School Harnett County champion boys basketball team is pictured above. From left on the front row are Zamonte McDougald, Zach Morris, Camden Stewart, Wyatt Avery, Jalen Evans, Deandre Smith, Marquis Rosado, Aaron Roberts, manager Narain Espinosa and coach Taylor Price. On the back row are assistant coaches Cameron Turlington and Leon Price, C.J. Herring, James Shaw, Nate McKoy, William Heard, Jaleel White and Aidan Johnson. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
The Coats-Erwin Middle School girls basketball team pictured above shared the county championship. On the front row from left are: Madlyn Parker, Amerisa Lodges, Shelby McLamb, McKenna Moore, Camryn Conway and Ashari Watlington. On the back row are Sueanna Bass, Marley Colville, Caylon Avery, Ava Blackman, Carleigh Hemby, Abby Hood and Anna Wilson. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Abby Hood (11) scores for the Falcon girls on Wednesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Ashari Watlington gets a basket in the last game of the season.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tanira Edwards (30) scores for visiting Harnett Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Avery Fortune gets a hoop for the Harnett Central girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Nicholas Avery (53) scores at the first half buzzer for HC.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Luke Frailey gets a basket for Harnett Central’s boys.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Nate McKoy scores for the Falcons to start a 3-point play.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jalen Evans drives for the county champion Falcons.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Manager and scorekeeper Brooke Blinson of Coats-Erwin.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
