Tuesday night the girls basketball team, led by Jayda Angel,  scraped by with a seven point win of 67-60 against E.E. Smith, the number one seeded team in the East.

Angel’s 34 points led all scorers, and those points led the Colts to the East Regional Final, one win away from the State Championship. She also crashed the boards, securing 15 rebounds for Cape Fear, earning the Junior sensation another double-double on the season. 

As soon as the game started, the Colts established their dominance over the Golden Bulls as they burst out of the gate and scored 22 points to their opponent’s 10. However, the Bullettes came back in the second quarter, putting up a strong 19 points to the Colts 7. This tied the game 29-29.

“The atmosphere of the team was highly positive, the girls were focused and looking to adjust better to the opposition,” said Head Coach Brian Graham. “The goal was to try and sharpen up our moves such as rotating faster and shutting down their key players before they could even get the ball.” .

Coming back into the second half, the Colts stayed consistent with a 21-17 3rd quarter lead and finished it off with a 17-12 4th quarter securing their win 67-60. The Colts played a well fought game in the second half to achieve their position in the 3A Regional Championships.

“We went into the half leading, and we just knew that if we could get up another 5 to 10 points, our defense could stop and prevent them from scoring while we kept racking up points to maintain the lead,” said Senior Forward Samara Britt.

Britt was a huge contributor to the win for the Colts. She posted 14 points and 9 rebounds on the night. She was an absolute force in the low post, and her hustle was evident on the defensive end of the court.

Anijah Jones and Teralyn Harris chipped in 10 and 7 points respectively to help seal the victory for Cape Fear. Kayia Starling did not register a field goal on the night, but she was a huge factor for the Colts defensively. She hauled in 7 rebounds during the game, six of those coming on the defensive end of the court.

The Colts haven’t been to this point since 1989. This year, they were led by star player, Jayda Angel; as she scored 34 points in this game, over half the points of the overall score for the girls basketball team.

“It feels amazing, and I feel humbled to be at the spot I am right now,” said Jayda Angel after the game.

No doubt the coach, Brian Graham, was also ecstatic to have watched the team grow together throughout the season, and reach this monumental moment. There’s no doubt the Lady Colts were motivated to succeed in this match after their close loss earlier in the year to the Bullettes of 73-67.

“The girls felt really vindicated; we talked a lot about putting in hard work to win against anyone we played. They were very happy and relieved that the hard work they put in paid off that game,” said Coach Graham.

Now the Colts look forward to their next match against 2nd Seed Rocky Mount on Saturday, March 4th. The game will be played at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. If the girls can find a way to win that game, they’ll move on to the 3A State Championship to take on the winner of West Rowan vs East Lincoln.