The North Stanly mens basketball team played its third first-round home playoff game in four seasons Tuesday night hosting the No. 30-ranked Andrews Wildcats.

After a slow shooting first quarter, the Comets surged ahead and advanced to the second round of the NCHSAA1A playoffs, winning 80-51.

Jason Doerr led three in double figures for North (20-7) with 22 points.

Bryson Childress added 21, including 18 in a game-changing second period that saw the Comets rally from two points down to lead by 20 at halftime.

Cameron Lee also added 20 for North, his 12th game of the season scoring 20 or more points, as the Comets increased the teams active win streak to 17.

Dillan Phillips knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points to lead Andrews (10-16).

The Comets jumped out to a 6-3 lead midway through the first, but the Wildcats answered with six points from Taylor Parker to lead 9-6 with 3:18 left in the opening period.

North went on a 6-0 push to regain the lead by five late points from Phillips in the final 40 seconds put the Wildcats back up after one quarter, 14-12.

We got a little overconfident going into (the game), Bryson Childress said. That first quarter was kind of rough.

The two teams exchanged four three-point shots to open the second before a Phillips three gave Andrews a 23-21 lead with 6:23 on the clock.

Bryson Childress started Norths second-quarter run with a 3-pointer as the Comets went on an 8-0 run to take a lead the team would not relinquish the rest of the way.

Shots started falling, things started going our way, Bryson Childress said.

Andrews pulled to within four with a Knox Chapman bucket at the 4:50 mark, 29-25.

The Childress brothers answered with six points in a 19-second span with two backcourt steals, putting North up 10, 35-25, forcing an Andrews timeout.

From that point, North outscored Andrews 20-4 over the remainder of the first half, hitting 15-of-19 shots in the quarter (78.9 percent) and outscoring the Wildcats by 22 points in the frame.

Once we hit a few we got momentum, Childress said.

The Comets continued to build on the lead in the third quarter, getting points from six players in the period. North outscored Andrews 11-5 over the first four minutes and built a 28-point lead after three quarters, 70-42.

Norths bench played the majority of the final period after Lee and Doerr combined for eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth.

For the game, the Comets were 32-of-77 overall (41.6 percent) and 4-of-6 at the foul line. Andrews finished shooting 16-of-69 (23.2 percent) and 7-of-13 on free throws.

We really struggled on both the defensive end and shooting the ball in the first quarter, North head coach Chris Misenheimer said. We settled down in the second quarter...P.T. and Brysons pressure on the ball produced points.

Misenheimer said the Comets have to get better on defensive rotations and every time we play we find something else we have to work on.

North hosts No. 19 Bishop McGuinness (15-11) tonight. The Villains advanced with a 81-55 road win Tuesday at No. 10 Hiwassee Dam.

Thursdays winner would face No. 5 Avery County or No. 24 Hayesville on Saturday in the third round.

AN 14 15 13 9 51

NS 12 37 21 10 80

An. Barton 6, Parker 7, Thompson 2, Pyle 6, Mathis 8, Dillan Phillips 20, Chapman 2.

NS JasonDoerr 22, Bryson Childress 21, Cameron Lee 20, Cord 8, Stepp 4, P. Childress 3, Smith 2.

Charles Curcio is sports editor of The Stanly News & Press. Contact him at (704) 982-2121 ext. 26, charles@stanlynewspress.com or PO Box 488, Albemarle, NC 28002.

See original here:

NCHSAA 1A MEN'S BASKETBALL Comets advance with win over Wildcats - Stanly News & Press