CARRBORO — Down two points with six minutes remaining in a tightly contested fourth quarter, Seaforth’s Nate Emerson potential game-winning three pointer missed the mark, and the Hawks fell short in their season-opener at Carrboro, 65-63.
Seaforth trailed, 64-60, with just under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, and junior guard Campbell Meador drained a three to bring the Hawks within one. Carrboro forward Joe Smith got fouled after corralling the rebound on Seaforth’s next possession, making the first one before a timeout.
“The big thing was we knew he can either make one, he can make two or he can miss both, and we had a contingent plan for all,” Seaforth coach John Berry said. “What ended up happening was he ended up making the first one and missed the second, so we went down by two. So, the goal was to get the ball, push it, advance it, whoever’s open go ahead and take the shot.”
Senior guard Noah Lewis’ outlet pass following the free throw miss was deflected, and senior Brandon Sturdivant and Emerson collided while trying to regain control of the ball. Emerson, well behind the three-point line, had less than a second to get a shot off, and the rushed attempt only caught air at the buzzer.
Of course, poor execution on the final play wasn’t the only thing to blame in the Hawks’ loss.
Seaforth had no answer for Carrboro’s junior forward Bakari Watkins, who poured in 22 points on a 50% shooting clip. Watkins scored nine points in the final quarter, providing timely buckets in the paint down the stretch.
“He was just doing whatever he wanted to do,” Berry said. “He was getting to the basket, and everything he was throwing up, it looked like it was going in.”
Missed layups and missed free throws also came back to haunt Seaforth, who ended up needing every point it could get in the final minutes. As a team, Seaforth missed nine free throws. Lewis, who recorded a 12-point, 12 rebound double-double with numerous assists, was aggressive all night and scored all of his points on free throws. However, he missed six attempts at the stripe.
Seaforth’s early shooting struggles also didn’t help as it fell behind in the early stages of the game. Despite many open looks, the Hawks shot just 1-11 from three in the first half, and the inability to finish at the rim in crunch time also did damage.
“We missed a bunch of shots that we normally would make,” Berry said.
Berry, Emerson, Lewis and Meador agreed after the game that rebounding, playing smart and knowing the sets were the biggest things the Hawks needed to improve on after those shortcomings hurt them in game one.
“Overall, we have a lot of flaws in our game that we need to tighten up in practice,” Lewis said.
But even in defeat, there were some positive takeaways from Seaforth’s first game under its new coach in Berry.
The Hawks played a deep rotation and received positive contributions from a plethora of players. Meador looked like a key scorer at the guard position, pouring in a team-high 22 points while shooting 58% from the floor and 50% from three (four made three-pointers). And although shots weren’t falling for Lewis, he looked comfortable and exceled at being the primary ball handler and finding open looks for his teammates.
Seaforth also showed fight in the times it trailed.
A 10-0 run at the end of the third quarter, sparked by multiple trips to the free-throw line, a three from senior Brandon Sturdivant, and a transition layup from Meador, brought the Hawks within two points going into the fourth quarter, and they eventually took their first lead (52-50) of the game minutes later.
Just minutes prior to that third quarter run, Seaforth trailed 36-25 and brought the deficit down to just five points following two threes from Meador and a mid-range shot from junior guard Austin Smith.
“We showed as a team to our coach, to our fan base and to our whole community that we’re dogs,” Lewis said. “We’re not going to give up. We’re not just going to lay down and get stepped on. We’re going to keep fighting, no matter what’s going to happen.”
For Berry, who was proud of his team for how they battled in a tight game while in a tough environment, he’s confident this game was just a “baseline” for the Hawks.
“It’s nothing but upward from here,” Berry said.