The Clayton Comets had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They rang in the new year with a 73-60 victory over Northern Nash. Given Clayton's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 44th, while Northern Nash is ranked 169th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Clayton was led to victory by Justice Mitchell and Andrew Grimes. Mitchell scored 24 points along with six rebounds, while Grimes scored 20 points along with eight rebounds and six blocks. Qua'shaun Williams was another key contributor, scoring six points along with six assists and three steals.
Despite the defeat, Northern Nash had strong showings from Izeal Mallory II, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds, and CJ Rosser, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Demondre Haymon, who scored nine points.
Even though they lost, Northern Nash were working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Clayton is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. As for Northern Nash, they now have a losing record at 5-6.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Clayton and Southeast Raleigh will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 10th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Southeast Raleigh knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven contests -- so hopefully Clayton likes a good challenge. As for Northern Nash, they will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Franklinton at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully Franklinton focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Friday.
