Cape Hatteras Secondary’s junior varsity boys team advances to the Atlantic 5 Conference championship with a 61-40 win over Columbia Monday night in Buxton.

The conference game is set for Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Columbia High School gymnasium. This is the first time the conference has conducted a junior varsity boys playoff.

Cape Hatteras scored first with a three by Austin Hooper. The team never relinquished the lead.

At the end of the first quarter, Cape Hatteras led 17 to 9. By halftime, the leading gap had expanded to 12 points.

In the third quarter, Columbia cut the lead to 8 points and almost matched Cape Hatteras’ point production.

In the final eight minutes, Cape Hatteras poured in 20 points to advance to the conference championship match.

The three-point game was evenly matched. Columbia connected on five and Cape Hatteras on six.

The Cape Hatteras team swipes at balls, gains possession and races down court on fast breaks. In this game, Cape Hatteras turnovers were low. Cape Hatteras scored on 11 of 19 shots from the free line for 58 percent.

Top scorer for the game was the junior Hurricane Charlie Conner, who scored 18 points, 11 from the field and seven from the foul line.

Also scoring in double figures were Victor Caldera and Austin Hooper with a dozen points each.

Top scorers for Columbia were Justice Bowser and Nazariee Basnight, who both scored nine points.

Also scheduled to play on Wednesday night are the Cape Hatteras girls varsity basketball players. Game time in Columbia is around 6 p.m. Cape Hatteras varsity boys play in Bear Grass Tuesday, Feb. 19 for a chance at the championship game.

READ MORE SPORTS COVERAGE HERE.