OCRACOKE — A six-hour bus ride across North Carolina, a ferry crossing of the Pamlico Sound and facing a higher seed might have daunted the Chatham Central boys’ basketball team.
Nope.
The Bears defeated Okracoke High School 58-56 on the road in the first round of the 2019 NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs, edging the Dolphins on their shores to advance to the second round.
It was a wild affair as neither team could shake the other, especially in a high-scoring opening period where the two clubs played to a 21-21 standstill.
Jameion Degraffenreaidt had half of his game-high 22 points in the stanza for the No. 24 Bears, including a trey, while Moore added four to the CC cause. Reeze Gaskins had 11 points for the ninth-seeded Dolphins in the first quarter, including a trio of three-pointers, and Cole Gilbert chipped in four more.
The scoring slowed down in the second as the teams turned the heat up defensively with Ocracoke edging in front 34-30 at the half. Colby Austin had a pair of treys in the period for the Dolphins while Sam Evans added a pair of baskets for four points, and Gaskins another trifecta.
Moore had five points, including a trey, for the Bears in the second.
After the break, Chatham Central made its move, sparked by the stellar play of Degraffenreaidt, who caught fire. The senior guard torched the Ocracoke defense the entire period on the way to 11 points, more than half of which came on a pair of treys. Moore added another three-pointer on the way to five points and Hayden Nall powered in four more as the Bears used a 20-12 run to take a 50-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the final period the defenses again made points hard to come by. Austin hit a trey for the Dolphins and Gaskins added an and-one, but the Bears did just enough behind four points from Moore to hang on for the thrilling 58-56 win.
Moore finished the night with 18 points as the Bears improved to 14-9 on the season and moved on to the second round, where Central was set to travel to Pamlico to face the Hurricanes.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, closed the season at 15-9 overall. Gaskins led Ocracoke with 19 points and Austin added 17.