As the regular season nears its end this week, the girls basketball teams of Croatan and Swansboro are both in a precarious position. However, the Cougars managed to secure a crucial victory on Thursday evening.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Croatan was behind Swansboro with a score of 28-36. However, the Cougars’ defensive efforts helped them catch up. Swansboro did not score any points in the final quarter and a layup by Sunny Johnson with 37.1 seconds remaining secured Croatan’s 38-36 win.

According to the most recent HighSchoolOT Playoff Projections, which do not take into account Thursday’s game, Croatan was predicted to receive an automatic bid as the No. 2 seed from the Coastal 3A Conference. Following their victory, the Cougars maintain their automatic bid status.

Unfortunately, the situation for Swansboro is not as evident. In the most recent prediction, the Pirates were ranked second-to-last in the group as a wild card team and were given the No. 31 seed. It is uncertain if their defeat against Croatan will result in their exclusion from the group until updated RPI rankings are published.

The game on Thursday began with a low score. In the first quarter, Kendall Hackworth scored five points, giving Swansboro an 11-9 advantage. All nine of the Cougars’ points were from three-point shots.

At the end of the first half, the Swansboro team was only one point behind the Pirates, with a score of 23-22. During the second quarter, both Hannah Buchan from Swansboro and Malaya Beasley from Croatan scored six points each.

In the third quarter, Swansboro’s offense excelled and scored a total of 13 points. Out of those 13, six were earned through free throws. Ashlynn Cook contributed six points and Hackworth added five points during this quarter. On the other hand, Croatan only managed to score six points, giving the Pirates a lead of 36-28 as they entered the fourth quarter.

However, the Pirates were unable to score any points during the fourth quarter.

During the game, Neely McMannen earned six points in the last quarter and Johnson made a basket in the final minute, leading the Cougars to a 38-36 victory. Johnson ended the game with a total of seven points.

McMannen was the top scorer for Croatan with a total of 13 points. Clifton from the Cougars also contributed 10 points. However, they were the only players on the team to score in double digits.

Hackworth scored 12 points and led Swansboro in scoring. She was the sole Pirate to reach double-figures, while Cook and Addison King contributed eight points each.

This marked the concluding match of the regular season for both teams. The next event on the schedule is the Coastal 3A Conference tournament, which will take place next week. Croatan currently holds a record of 12 wins and 9 losses overall, with 7 wins and 3 losses in conference games. Swansboro, on the other hand, has an overall record of 8 wins and 12 losses, with 4 wins and 6 losses in league play.

Source: highschoolot.com