Win and advance.

That was the focus of the Halifax County High School varsity girls basketball team in Monday night's 5A North Region Conference 16 Tournament quarterfinal game against Patrick Henry High School-Ashland at Halifax Count High School.

The Comets got off to a good start and got the job done with a 39-28 win over the Patriots, with the win propelling the third-seeded Comets into Wednesday's semi-final round where they will face second seed Albemarle High School in Charlottesville.

A win on Wednesday will send the Comets into the tournament championship game on Friday and guarantee them no worse than a second seed for the 5A North Region Tournament. If the Comets lose Wednesday, they will host a third-place game at Halifax County High School Friday night with the conference's third seed for the region tournament at stake.

Senior guard Malasia Boyd said the win was a big one for the team.

"We feel good about this," Boyd remarked.

"We were here in the same place last year and at the rate we're going, we're looking good. We're progressing each and every day. Learning from this game will help us in the next game."

This marked the second straight year the Comets girls have advanced out of the first round with a win on their home floor.

"Playing on our home court makes a big difference for us," noted Comets Head Coach David Graham after his team's victory.

"Home-court advantage means everything to these girls. The girls played really hard at the end of the regular season and we got the third seed, which was better than what we thought we would get. Hopefully we can go on from here."

The Comets were led in scoring by Tamiara Logan who finished the game with 11 points that included a trio of three-point baskets that came in the first half. Shadajah Davis followed with 10 points, Dee Dee Jeffress chipped in seven points and Brittany Clark tossed in six points among the team's top scorers.

Logan also led the Comets in rebounds with seven and had two steals and two assists. Clark had four rebounds and three steals and Davis pulled in four rebounds.

Halifax County High School got each of the four quarters off to a good start by scoring on the first two possessions of each quarter. On the defensive side, the Comets held the Patriots to seven points or less in three of the four quarters.

"We needed to get 10 or more points per quarter," Graham pointed out.

"We shot the ball well tonight and played extremely good defense."

If there was a downside to the Comets' effort it was turnovers. The Comets had 21 turnovers in the game including nine in the fourth quarter.

"We turned the ball over when they (PH-Ashland) pressed us," Graham pointed out.

"That is the only negative I can say about the game."

The Comets hit six of 15 shots from beyond the three-point arc, with Logan getting half of them.

"I was just feeling it," Logan said.

"I knew I had to put some arch on the ball. That was pretty much it. I also got good passes from my teammates."

The Comets took the lead on their first possession of the game with Logan hitting the first of her trio of 3-point shots to give her team a 3-2 lead. Davis hit a shot from inside the paint on the team's second possession and later knocked down a three-pointer to put the Comets up 8-2 with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

Halifax County High School led 11-5 at the end of the first quarter and got a 3-point basket from Boyd and a layup from Jeffress to grab a 16-5 lead with 5:39 left in the first half. The Patriots closed to within seven points late in the second quarter but a three-pointer from Logan with 32.7 seconds left in the half put the Comets up 22-12 at halftime.

Halifax County High School led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, which ended with the Comets leading 29-16.

Baskets by Davis and Clark to open the fourth quarter gave the Comets a 33-16 lead with six minutes left in the game. The Comets were never threatened after that.

Now, the Comets head to Charlottesville for Wednesday's semi-final round game against Albemarle High School.

"We've got to go up there and play on their home court," Graham said, "but we're playing pretty well. We're scoring points. If our offense can keep clicking we will be okay."

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