No. 3 Terry Sanford gets the best of No. 2 Cape Fear in NCHSAA 3A playoff showdown

The Fayetteville area was delighted with a top-notch matchup between two of the top girls basketball programs in the state on Friday night.

In the fourth-round contest of the NCHSAA 3A East playoffs, No. 3 Terry Sanford upset No. 2 Cape Fear, 75-68, led by Ameya Brown, Rebecca Kaba and Breonna Roaf's combined 56 points in front of a crowd that sold out before the doors opened for the 7 p.m. tip-off.

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The two top Fayetteville girls teams were neck-and-neck, both with the equal chance of winning up until the last two minutes of the game when Terry Sanford got out to a 10-point lead with the help of 16 fourth-quarter points by Rebecca Kaba along with six clutch points from freshman Jaidiah Blake — the only two Bulldogs to score field goals in the final period.

Terry Sanford leader Breonna Roaf didn't lead the Bulldogs in scoring, but she did lead them with court IQ and heart.

"I just wanted to set them up for the best shot — my impact is doing the hard work so that they can do the easy part," the junior guard said.

In the final quarter, Cape Fear took the lead after trailing for majority of the night but began facing issues when Kaba came off the Terry Sanford bench and provided a spark and height that was too much for the Colts to overcome.

"She (Kaba) had a huge impact — I took her out early and sat for longer than I intended for her to, but she stayed locked in and came in ready to go for us," Coach Christopher Goodman said after the win.

Jayda Angel had a game-high 28 points, but the Bulldogs defended her well and did a solid job of not allowing her to score in transition as much as normal.

"You don't shut down a player like Jayda — she's one of the best in the state, so all you can do is contain her. She's going to make tough shots, but all we wanted to do was contain her as much as possible without fouling," Goodman said.

Brown, a sophomore guard, poured in a team-high 20 points and four 3-pointers for the Bulldogs on the night, and Colts sniper Kaiya Starling put up 10 points and nailed her 1,000-point milestone in her final high school game, while Teralyn Harris had 16 points of her own.

Terry Sanford girls advance to the Regional Championships in Winston-Salem at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Stadium to face No. 1 South Central for a 6 p.m. tip-off.