Cleveland-Clayton Game Recap

In another edition of a high level Johnston County rivalry, Clayton was able to knock off Cleveland 52-36 to advance to the conference semifinals. The Comets used tough defense to hold off a talented Rams squad that gave them all they could handle in the first half. Prep Girls hoops takes a look at the top performers from this first round conference tournament matchup. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="217759" first="Darrionna" last="Howard"] (Clayton 2023 forward)</strong> 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id="217759" first="Darrionna" last="Howard"] continues to be the key piece to the puzzle for the Clayton Comets. She finished with 19 points on 8-14 shooting along with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and four blocked shots. Howard does most of her damage in the paint and her size allows her to shoot over most defenders. Her stock continues to rise and she’s had some monster performances recently including a 36-point game against Fuquay-Varina a few weeks ago. <strong>Kayla Robertson (Clayton 2023 forward)</strong> One player that’s started to play her best basketball is Kayla Robertson and that continued in their game against Cleveland. She set the tone early to the tune of 14 points on 6-12 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Robertson knocked down a couple of shots in the first few minutes to get her team going and had a couple of tough finishes inside. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="219220" first="Brooklynn" last="Waller"] (Cleveland 2023 guard)</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="219220" first="Brooklynn" last="Waller"] has closed the season with a flourish having 12 points to lead the Cleveland Rams in this contest. She’s become a much improved finisher in the paint and is still a very consistent shooter from the outside. Waller has been one of the top players in Johnston County this season and is only improving. <strong>Kendall Gaunt (Cleveland 2025 guard/forward)</strong> Cleveland also has a promising freshman prospect in Kendall Gaunt who was a force on both ends of the floor. Gaunt finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and five steals to keep her team in the game during the first half. She made a number of key deflections which led to transition points for the Rams and she led the team in rebounds per game (8.2) this season.