Halifax County High School needed a win in Thursday night's final regular-season game against Martinsville High School to have a shot at earning the second seed and a first-round bye in next week's 5A North Region Conference 16 Tournament, but came up short.

After a fourth-quarter rally got the Comets to within two points with 51 seconds left in the game, they victimized themselves with three turnovers in the final 45 seconds and lost to Martinsville High School 46-41 in the game played at Halifax County Middle School.

The loss left the Comets, who finished the season with a 14-7 overall record, as the third seed for next week's Conference 16 Tournament. Halifax County High School will host sixth seed Patrick Henry-Ashland Monday night at 7 p.m. at Halifax County High School.

That game will follow an opening-round game in the girls tournament in which third seed Halifax County High School will host Patrick Henry-Ashland at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday night's game was a tough one for the Comets as they struggled against Martinsville High School's active zone defense. The Comets hit only three of 11 attempts from 3-point range and had 15 turnovers in the game.

"It was just a tough night for us," remarked Comets Head Coach Sterling Williams.

"We couldn't knock down the shots, and we couldn't get the ones around the basket to fall."

Williams said Martinsville High School played as he expected it to play, sticking with a zone defense the entire night.

"That's what they do," Williams pointed out.

"They play zone all the time. We also had some situations in which we turned the ball over late in the game. It hurt us. On the other end, they were able to get to the basket and finish around the basket."

Zion Bailey led the Comets in scoring with 14 points, but had only one field goal in the second half, that one a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. James Smith Jr. followed with 12 points after being held to just four points in the first half. Ford Morrison chipped in nine points. Tyliek Powell and reserve Shelquan Edmonds both had three points. Only five Comets players scored in the game.

After failing to lead any of the first quarter that ended with Martinsville High School up 10-9, the Comets took the lead in the second quarter with two free throws from Bailey, a layup from Smith after a steal and a layup from Bailey after another steal to go up 18-14 with 4:44 left in the first half.

The Comets led 20-17 after Morrison hit a shot from inside the paint with 4:20 left in the half. Martinsville High School answered with a 10-2 run over the last 3:19 of the half with E.J. Bratcher connecting three times from deep in the paint to give Martinsville High School a 28-22 lead at halftime.

Martinsville High School led by as many as a dozen points in the third quarter as the Comets went just over half of the quarter without a score. A basket from Morrison inside the paint and a free throw from Smith in the last 1:01 of the quarter accounted for half of the six points the Comets scored in the quarter as they trailed 37-28 entering the final period.

A 3-point basket from Bailey and two free throws from Smith to open the fourth quarter gave the Comets life as they cut their deficit to four points at 37-33 with 6:45 left in the game.

Trailing 43-35, the Comets saw Powell complete a three-point play after being fouled to get to within five points. A 3-point shot from Smith with 51 seconds left in the game got the Comets to within two points at 43-41.

The Comets got a break when the Bulldogs were cited for a backcourt violation, but turned the ball over themselves on the ensuing possession. Forced to foul, the Comets put the Bulldogs' Zanthus Hairston on the free throw line. Hairston missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, and the Comets got the ball back, only to turn it over again, this time on a bad pass that sailed out of bounds after hitting the backboard.

Again forced to foul in an attempt to get the ball back, the Comets targeted Hairston another time with 16 seconds left. Hairston made the first shot at the charity stripe to put the Bulldogs up 44-41, but missed the second attempt. The Comets got the ball back, only to again lose it on a turnover.

The Bulldogs' T.J. Pettway quickly broke down the floor on the inbounds play, snared a pass and dunked a layup with two seconds left to give Martinsville High School the final five-point margin.

Aaron Martin led Martinsville High School in scoring with 15 points that included a pair of 3-point baskets. Bratcher followed with 12 points and Pettway chipped in eight points.

For the Comets, the object now is to put the loss behind them and get ready for Monday's opening-round game of the Conference 16 Tournament.

"We've got to get back up and dust ourselves off and get ready for the playoff run starting Monday," Williams said.

"We've got tough guys. This is what we do. We look for challenges. I think the guys will be ready to play."

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Comets fall in bid for second conference seed with 46-41 loss to Martinsville HS - YourGV.com