The Community Christian School varsity girls basketball team was denied in its attempt at a second comeback and Abigail Jackson, the Lady Cyclones’ lone senior, was denied on Senior Night in Eastern N.C School for the Deaf’s Barney Williamson Gym on Thursday evening.
The Cyclones rallied out front with 5 minutes, 59 seconds remaining, but again failed to notch their first North Carolina Christian Athletic conference win, falling 35-32 to New Bern Christian Academy of the 2-A South region.
Jackson emerged with a game-high 18 points and well masked her disappointment in a contest she thought her Cyclones should have won.
“It was a really good game and a good Senior Night for me,” she declared. “It was a really good comeback because we lost to them by 28 points the first time. It was a big improvement. My mindset was to have a lot of energy and be everywhere on the court.”
Still, CCS remained winless in the North region (0-7) and lost for the 13th time in 14 games. The Mustangs, challenging for the South lead, departed 6-1 in the region and 18-7 against all foes. The outcome of the rematch did not count in the region standings for either team.
“I love how hard we played,” said CCS head coach Andy Jackson, Abigail’s father. “We competed very well. I would have liked for the ball to go into the basket about three more times.”
Eighth-grader Claire Carter’s field goal staked the Cyclones to a 30-29 edge at the 5:59 mark in the final quarter. CCS would not score again until Abigail Jackson connected for her final basket with 21.5 seconds to go.
The Mustangs tied the score at 30-30 on senior Kaitlyn Eason’s free throw. Eason then knocked down a pair of 2-point shots and New Bern owned a 34-30 cushion with 44 seconds to go.
“We came in wanting to keep the turnovers down and get the passes to a player,” Abigail Jackson noted. “We executed our passes really well.”
Still, CCS could not overcome struggles with the fundamentals of catching, dribbling and handling the basketball. The Cyclones went 10 of 21 from the foul line, while New Bern was 5 of 11.
CCS, behind Abigail Jackson, owned a 9-6 lead after one quarter and surged to the game’s biggest margin of 20-9 in the closing seconds of the first half on the strength of three field goals and a free throw from Abigail Jackson and two buckets from sophomore Aiyana Holmes, a strong rebounder.
But CCS’ 20-13 halftime lead dissipated after being outscored 14-3 by the Mustangs in the third quarter. Freshman Abril Ventura accounted for the Cyclones’ points. New Bern seized the lead for keeps at 24-23. Then, with less than five seconds showing, the Mustangs inbounded the basketball to wide-open sophomore Faith Huffman, who swished a 3-point shot at the buzzer for a 27-23 advantage.
“That really hurt,” Andy Jackson admitted.
Eason’s 11 points led the Mustangs, while Huffman drilled in nine. Holmes wound up with six points for the Cyclones, while Claire Carter scored five.
Abigail Jackson, obviously, won’t be around next season, but she sees promise for the varsity.
“The junior varsity players coming up are going to add a lot to our varsity team,” she predicted.
NEW BERN CHRISTIAN (35)
Scott 1, Eason 11, Huffman 9, Andrews 4, Lajoie 6, Weatherly 4.
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN (32)
Jackson 18, C. Carter 5, Ventura 3, Holmes 6.
Score by quarters:
NBC 6 7 14 8 — 35
CCS 9 11 3 9 — 32