FOUR OAKS — They made it.
Chatham Charter’s girls basketball team will play for a state championship for the first time in the history of the program that joined the N.C. High School Athletic Association in the fall of 2014.
They’ll go against Bishop McGuinness at 5 p.m. on March 11 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
The Knights figured out a way to get past the previously unbeaten Falls Lake Firebirds by a 56-51 score Saturday afternoon in a South Johnston High School gym that appeared to have lids on the rims when both squads shot free throws.
Chatham Charter made more when it mattered. Four late in the fourth period from Delana Loflin were deal-sealers.
“I was really nervous at the end,” Loflin said. “I just kept calm and was doing what I usually do.”
Loflin and Tamaya Walden each scored 18 points for Chatham Charter. Meah Brooks was mean in the paint, doing work down low for 14 points. The Knights needed every bit of that production, because Falls Lake had a player in Emerson Thompson who was a bucket waiting to happen from the time she got off the team bus. She was feeling herself, playing loose, getting busy.
“We knew we couldn’t stop her,” third-year Chatham Charter head coach Jeff Patterson said. “We were trying to contain her and make her work for everything she got, because she’s one heck of a ballplayer. She’s averaging a triple-double this year.”
Thompson put up 26 points for the Firebirds, three of them from beyond the arc that gave Falls Lake a 44-39 lead with 5:54 left in the game. She’s real crafty and did that kind of stuff all afternoon, coming up with shots that would knock the wind out of Chatham Charter.
The Knights managed to catch their collective breath.
The game clock struck 1:16 in the fourth period when Patterson looked toward the scorers table and yelled, “How many I got?”
He was talking to Chatham Charter statistician Tanya Hamilton. The man needed to know what his timeout situation looked like.
Hamilton hollered, “You got ’em!”
“Gimme one!” Patterson demanded.
The ref obliged.
“They’re getting ready to press us,” Patterson said after the game, recounting what he told his players during that timeout. “We’ve got to be strong with the basketball. We’ve got to make sure when we pass the ball, there’s got to be something on it. It can’t be a floater. And we don’t have to score — unless they foul us, and we go to the free-throw line. The only way we need to score is if it’s a layup. We’re not taking any more jump shots now. Just protect the basketball.”
That was the assignment. The Knights were good students. Now for the final in Raleigh.
With about 3:30 left in the 1A regional, Walden scored to trim the Firebirds’ lead to 46-45. Falls Lake coach Brad Thompson burned a 30-second timeout to talk about it. The Knights were coming, and pivotal in the closing minutes was a charge Chatham Charter’s Emerson Clark took from Thompson when the game resumed. The Knights grabbed possession, and Walden’s 3-pointer gave Chatham Charter a 48-46 lead.
Some basket trading ensued. Chatham Charter did enough to hang on.
“Throughout the season, I feel like we have gotten way better,” Loflin said. “At the beginning, I really didn’t know where we would be. But to see we’re this far, it’s so exciting.”