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Saturday proved to be a good night for Cape Hatteras basketball. Playing at Columbia High School all three Hurricane teams won Atlantic 6 1A Basketball Conference Championships.

After three losses to the Wildcats earlier this season, the Hatteras JV boys jumped to a 16-11 first quarter lead and extended it in the second period to make it 37-28 at halftime. Although the Wildcats out-gunned the Hurricanes 33-29 in the second half, it proved to be too little and the Hatteras boys – with four players scoring in double digits – held on for a 66-61 win. Cape Hatteras point guard Osmar Padilla was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The JV Hurricanes finished the regular season 5-4 in conference play. Saturday’s win gives the JV Hurricanes a 6-11 record overall. Columbia finished the season 7-2 in the conference and 16-5 overall

With Bear Grass unable to field a team as scheduled, Cape Hatteras girls won their conference championship by forfeit. According to Tim Spruill, Cape Hatteras athletic director, Columbia played the Hurricanes in a non-conference game to give Hatteras a game before state playoffs start Tuesday.

After trading leads early in the game a buzzer basket put the Hurricanes up 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. The Hurricanes extended that advantage to a 32-19 lead at halftime. After slow third quarter, the Hatteras team exploded in the fourth and final period with 21 points to Columbia’s 8 to walk away with a 57-31 win.

Every Cape Hatteras player scored at least one basket and Emma Delmonte led her team in double digits with 24 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

“That was probably the sloppiest game of the season,” said Hatteras Coach Earl Fountain. “We had too many fouls for number one, too many turnovers for number two and I’d like to have a dollar for each layup we missed.”

Fountain went on to say his team was able to recover in spite of their earlier adversities. He then added that after Lexus Meekins went out with a hip injury, several other players filled the gap.

“We will not know her condition for a couple of days,” Fountain continued. “Thank God we had Emma Delmonte tonight. She came through for us in a clutch and she well deserved the Most Valuable Player award tonight.”

Cape Hatteras finished their conference season 12-0 and Saturday’s win gives the Hurricanes a 17-5 overall record. Columbia, with a 6-5 conference record ended the season 6-17 overall.

The final game of the evening saw Hatteras varsity boys control most of the first quarter, taking a 10-2 lead. A fast-moving, low-scoring second quarter didn’t see any baskets until half way through the period, which ended with nine points each.

Action picked up in the second half with at least three turnovers in the first two minutes of play.

Columbia’s scoring improved and the Wildcats pumped in 18 points to the Hurricanes’ 13. In the process Columbia tied the score at 21 all with 5:28, forcing Hatteras to call a time out.

Hatteras was able to regroup and the pace quickened and throughout the third quarter and although Hatteras moved out to a four point lead the Wildcats came back for a 29-28 lead with just over a minute left in the quarter. It was a short-lived lead, however, when Hatteras retook the lead with two quick baskets.

Although missed shots and turnovers marked the fourth quarter, Hatteras was able to score an 11-6 advantage over Columbia and held off a late game surge for the 43-35 win.

“It was a hard-fought battle,” said Hatteras coach Woody Willis. “They tried to stop our two best players and the rest of the team stepped up well.”

Cape Hatteras center Dylan Gray was named the varsity boys outstanding tournament player.

BOYS JV BASKETBALL @ COLUMBIA
Played 2/22/2020 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Cape Hatteras 16 21 15 14 66
Columbia 11 17 18 15 61

CAPE HATTERAS JV BASKETBALL TEAM:  Osmar Padilla 22, Dylan Watters 17, Eli Garry 15, Taj Midgett 12.
COLUMBIA JV TEAM: Xavier Singleton 19, Joshua Davenport 14, Andrew Etheridge 14, Michael Cox 8, Ahmad Moore 6.

GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL @ COLUMBIA
Played 2/22/2020 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Cape Hatteras 12 20 4 21 57
Columbia 11 8 4 8 31

CAPE HATTERAS GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM: Emma Delmonte 24, Lexus Meekins 9, Eliza Quidley 8, Chloe Flythe 5, Hannah Curcio 3, JoBell Porter 2, Shayley Ballance 2, Sophie Waterfield 2, Laya Barley 2.
COLUMBIA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM:  Keasija Edmundson 10, Amiah Richardson 8, Vaniah Melton 7, Jessica Ramirez 4, Camryn Rawls 2.

VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL @ COLUMBIA
Played 2/22/2020 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Cape Hatteras 10 9 13 11 43
Columbia 2 9 18 6 35

CAPE HATTERAS: Dylan Gray 15, Ayden Paddock 11, Kaleb Spake 9, Jose Cirisa 6, Charlie Conner 2.
COLUMBIA:  Dashawn Spencer 8,  Jamon Spencer 8,  Da’Shawn Spencer 7,  Armando Aguilar 5,  Collin Jackson 3,  Damian Marlow 2,  Justice Bowser 2.

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Cape Hatteras Secondary basketball teams record wins