GREENSBORO -- It was an Eastern Guilford sweep Friday night in the Mid-State 3-A Conference basketball tournament finals.
The boys broke open a close game with an early third-quarter run and held on for a 65-60 win over Morehead. Eastern will be home for a playoff game Monday night. That game will be played after the Wildcats girl's playoff game because the girls beat Northern Guilford 56-52 in double overtime and improved their playoff seeding to a No. 2 and a home playoff game.
"I give all the credit to the kids,' said Eastern Guilford boy's coach Dion Lansdale. "They did everything we asked them to do. They fought hard this season and overcame adversity."
After building a 21-13 first quarter lead, the Eastern boys only scored one basket in the second quarter and trailed 25-23 at halftime. But the Wildcats (18-8) turned up the defensive intensity in the third quarter and started with an 11-2 run to take control at 34-27. Butch Huffman finished the run with a 3-pointer. Huffman scored a game-high 25 points and was named tournament MVP.
"I told the kids at halftime this game was going to be won with defense, not offense," Lansdale said. "... I never expected to blow them out."
Leading 46-39 going into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats mostly played a half-court zone trap.
"We just wanted to get them out of their rhythm," Lansdale said. "... Our intensity level was good and we got some stops when we needed them."
Even with their defensive effort, Eastern didn't secure the win until Morehead's Dez McDaniel missed a 3-pointer with under a minute to play and Huffman sank two free throws on the other end for a 61-55 lead.
In the girls game, it took two overtimes, but Eastern (22-5) came away with the win against Northern Guilford. Eastern's Miranda Jenkins scored 37 points and gave her team the lead for good in the second overtime when she stole the ball from Northern's Samantha Coffer and scored on a breakaway layup with 1:49 to play.
Jenkins had held the ball for the last shot in regulation and the first overtime, but didn't get a shot off at the end of regulation and tried to pass to a teammate at the end of the first overtime, but the pass was knocked away.
"I was nervous at first," Jenkins said about the overtime period.
Eastern girl's coach Tina Gunn said she was frustrated that Jenkins gave up the ball at the end of the first overtime.
"She was frustrated with herself, too," Gunn said. "The girl she tried to pass it to told her to shoot it. I tell this team, it doesn't matter who it is, if you're in the lane and you're open, take the shot."
Both teams were cold to start the game, but the Wildcats started hitting some shots and seized a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Nighthawks used a half-court trap that resulted in several turnovers and the Nighthawks converted enough of them to lead 20-18 at halftime. Coffer finished with a team-high 22 points for Northern Guilford (22-4), which will still have the conference's No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
GIRLS
E. Guilford 14 4 19 10 2 7 -- 56
No. Guilford 8 12 11 16 2 3 -- 52
Eastern Guilford (22-5) -- Miranda Jenkins 37, Karina Jackson 6, Carryl Alston 6, Erica Olerich 4, Courtney Toraine 3.
Northern Guilford (22-4) -- Samantha Coffer 22, Amanda Coffer 17, Alexis Robinson 5, Gabby Boyd 4, Aliyan Grinage 4.
BOYS
Morehead 13 12 14 21 -- 60
Eastern Guilford 21 2 25 19 -- 65
Morehead (N/A) -- D.J. Hairston 15, Quinton Neal 13, Pierce Moore 12, Dez McDaniel 11, Kaleb Houchins 9.
Eastern Guilford (18-8) -- Butch Huffman 25, Brandon Hairston 14, Charles Beard 10, Jeremy Gaddy 6, Kieran Chavis 4, Torey Evans 4, Quan Moss 2.
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