In a game full of 3-pointers, it was an old fashioned three-point play by Orange County High Schools Erin Ryder that ultimately led to a 47-44 win for the Hornets over Halifax County High School Friday in the Conference 16 third-place game at Halifax County High School.

The loss cost the Comets a berth in the 5A North Region Tournament, which would have been their first regional appearance since 2011.

The Comets Dee Dee Jeffress, who scored 12 of her game high 19 points in the fourth quarter, tied the game at 42-42 with a made free throw with little more than a minute remaining in the game.

Ryder converted the 3-point play after a drive to the basket seconds later to give her team a 45-42 lead, and a Jeffress steal and layup got the Comets to within one point at 45-44 before two foul shots by Ryder made it 47-44 with 33 seconds remaining.

The Comets missed two chances to tie the game in the final seconds with a pair of misses from 3-point range.

Halifax County High School connected on nine of 24 3-point attempts for the game, and Orange County High School connected on four of 12 three-point attempts.

Brittany Clark, Malasia Boyd and Jeffress each hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter that countered three 3-pointers by the Hornets Laine Harrington to give the Comets a 15-13 lead.

Jeffress and Clark each connected on a 3-pointer in the second quarter, with Clarks 3-pointer with seconds remaining giving the Comets a 25-23 lead at halftime.

The Hornets went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, including a 3-pointer from Ryder to take a 32-25 lead, but Boyd hit two 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the quarter, as the Comets pulled to within 35-34 with a quarter remaining.

A Jeffress 3-pointer gave the Comets a 37-35 lead early in the fourth quarter, but another 7-0 run gave the Hornets a 42-37 advantage with three minutes remaining.

The Comets pulled to within one point at 42-41 on a Jeffress 3-pointer before tying the game for the final time when Jeffress hit one of two free throws.

Boyd finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers in her final high school game, and Clark and Tamiara Logan each counted a 3-pointer among their five points.

Shadajah Davis added two points for the Comets, who were 7-14 at the free throw line with 19 turnovers.

Harrington and Ryder led the Hornets with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Orange County High School committed 21 turnovers and was 13-20 at the charity stripe.

Theres no one thing you can point to that cost us the game, and the only thing you can say is that it was a good ball game by both teams, said Comets Head Coach David Graham.

We played hard, it was a tight ball game all the way, we made some good shots and played good defense, but it was just a matter of getting the breaks at the end.

The Comets have come a long ways this year, considering what theyve had to deal with, including the death of teammate Casey Pulliam in an auto accident shortly before Christmas, according to Graham.

Even with our height disadvantage, theyve done extremely well. We started with 10 (players) and ended up with eight, said Graham.

The Comets still fought through all the diversity and had a chance to go to the regional tournament, Graham noted.

The Comets lose only two seniors, Malasia Boyd and Shadajah Davis, so the future looks bright, Graham added.

We have some good kids off of jayvee who will help next year, and of course the middle school just won the championship, so they have a nice crew there, explained Graham.

The girls have hung together, and Sam (Edmonds), the assistant coach, has been a big inspiration for them.

He does a great job of coaching, and we were lucky to have him this year.

More here:

Lady Comets fall short in regional bid | Prep Sports | yourgv.com - YourGV.com