South Johnston uses sharp three point shooting to complete regular season sweep of Clayton

By: Zachary Adams

1/31/19

FOUR OAKS, NC — South Johnston (18-2, 5-1) knocked down 10 three pointers en route to their 79-57 victory over Clayton (9-9, 3-3).

Rain may not have been falling outside, but it sure was raining threes inside the South Johnston Gymnasium in the first quarter. The Comets and Trojans combined to hit nine three pointers in the opening stanza. With 3:22 to play in the quarter, South senior Jaquain Smith sunk a three in front of the Clayton bench to put the home side up 17-5. Later in the frame, Comet senior Cameron Walden hooked up with sophomore Amare Bryant for a corner triple. Bryant’s three ball cut the South Johnston lead to 21-9. With just under a minute to play, Carel “CJ” Ray would get two looks from beyond the arc. Ray is a proven three pointer shooter, so giving him back-to-back looks is a bad idea. The Trojan junior would hit his second attempt to make it 24-9 with just under a minute to play. To end the first quarter, Comet junior Joquan Ross drained a three right of the key. Ross’ triple made it 24-12 in favor of South Johnston after one quarter of play.

To the chagrin of the Comets, the Trojans would keep their shooting touch at the beginning of the second.  South’s Thomas Dees would knock down his fourth three of the game to give the home side the 29-14 advantage. The visitor’s would actually crawl back into the game behind their gritty press and two threes by Amare Bryant. Halfway through the second, South Johnston led 33-23. With 2:33 to play in the stanza, Cameron Walden would bank home a deuce to make it 35-27 South. Despite Walden pouring in nine second quarter points, the Comets still trailed going into the locker rooms. South Johnston used seven first half threes to lead 39-31 at the break.

Clayton’s press would continue to be troublesome at the start of the third. Sophomore Justin Bell picked off a Trojan pass and turned it into two points for the Comets. After a South Johnston miss, Parker Tate would hit the offensive glass and put home a floater to trim the deficit to just four, at 41-37, with 4:41 to play in the third quarter. After Clayton’s Javonte Long and South’s CJ Ray traded threes, it was 48-40 Trojans with just about three minutes to play in the third. On the next offensive possession for the home side, CJ Ray would rock the gym with a tomahawk slam. Ray jogged down the lane, caught the rock unbothered by any of the five Comets on the floor, and threw down the right handed slam. The Gang Green Student Section and the rest of the Trojan faithful went nuts after the flush. After three quarters of play, South Johnston had the 59-46 edge.

Frustration would set in for Clayton in the fourth. After Jacob Thornton got his runner to fall through contact, the officials assessed Justin Bell with a technical foul. Thornton would miss the and one free throw and Jaquain Smith made one of the two technical free throws. After the whole technical foul situation was cleared up, South Johnston moved up by 16, 64-48. Later, Trojan senior Clayton Blackman would actually complete an old-fashioned three point play to make it 70-50 South Johnston. The Trojans went on to outscore the Comets 20-9 in the final quarter to earn the 22-point victory, 79-57. This was the first time since 2005-06 that South Johnston has swept a home and home series with Clayton

Carel “CJ” Ray led South Johnston and all scorers with 24 points. Ray finished with four made threes and scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half. There were three other Trojans in double figures. Jaquain Smith finished with 20, Clayton Blackman had 16, and Thomas Dees contributed 12. Cameron Walden paced Clayton with 15 points. 11 of Walden’s 15 came in the first half. Amare Bryant added 12 points on his four made threes.

South Johnston will host West Johnston on Tuesday night at home, while Clayton will hit the road once again to face East Wake.