updated: 7:43 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL – Boston College junior Reggie Jackson’s potentially game-winning 3-pointer came so close to falling Saturday that he believed – half joking, of course -- that North Carolina must have tightened the screws on the rim.

Instead, the 19^th-ranked Tar Heels tightened the screws on their defense.

UNC overcame a double-digit comeback attempt by the Eagles, and its worst-ever scoring output in 361 games at the Smith Center , to win 48-46. The Tar Heels prevailed because they held BC to 26.9 percent shooting, dominated the backboards, and got a fortuitous defensive play from 6-feet-10 forward John Henson, who was guarding the 6-3 Jackson’s shot with scant seconds left.

RALEIGH – Erica Brownlow was shocked the final play was happening right in front of her. If anything, Browlown, a guard for Sanderson, thought Enloe was going to rely on anyone other than the player she was defending with eight seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Instead Enloe’s backup guard Ebonie Coley raced down the court with the hope of making a basket. Coley tried to dribble to the basket, but Browlown striped the ball away from Coley with one second remaining to secure Sanderson a 58-56 victory Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Cap Eight 4-A Tournament.

“I didn’t know she was going to try to drive past me because I don’t think she was the player they designed the play for,” Browlown said of Coley, who only entered the late after starter Dana Brown fouled out. “I thought they would get it to Mykia [Jones] but we guarded her well, so I knew they need to take a quick shot.”

Browlown was right to think Jones would take the final shot. Jones had already scored eight points in the game and was Enloe’s point guard.

But once Browlown forced Coley to go baseline, she was able to wrestle the ball away as multiple players fought for the loose ball.

The Eagles felt confident with their season on the line Tuesday night against the Wakefield Wolverines. They played more like a team with everything to gain rather than everything to lose, which was the right mentality for the Eagles as they held on for a 62-55 victory in the first round of the Cap Eight 4-A Conference Tournament.

“Our mentality now is we’re swinging for the fence,” coach Pina Baker said.

Enloe (7-18) entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed knowing it needs to win the tournament to make the state playoffs. The Eagles will play Sanderson at Broughton today at 7 p.m. Wakefield (12-10) has already reached the playoffs.

“We’re excited to have another opportunity,” Baker said.

Millbrook 57, Enloe 21

103: Jake Oberlender (Enloe) dec. Alex Garcia, 2-0

112: Nick Norton (Millbrook)

119: Carlos Rivera (Millbrook) for Carnell Lewis

125: Brett Burton (Millbrook) fall

130: Brandon Harris (Millbrook)

135: Winston Norton (Millbrook) fall Mathew Ahlers, 2:55

140: Will Burton (Millbrook) fall Tyshawn Dublin, 5:50

145: Lamaine Camara (Millbrook) fall Damien Dozier, 3:26

152: Chris Williams (Millbrook) dec. Christian Owen, 11-10

160: Clay Trotter (Enloe) fall Jonathan Woodbury, 1:30

171: Kevin Stiles (Enloe) fall Brandon Burton, 2:31

189: Nathan Farrell (Millbrook) fall Hisaun Yates,1:20

215: Lewis Crumsey (Millbrook) fall Joseph Thai, 3:25

285: Anthony Bradshaw (Enloe) fall Alphonso Dunston, 5:07

Updated 11:59 p.m.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. –  This is the Harrison Barnes basketball fans expected to see at the beginning of the season.

And for North Carolina, he’s emerging at just the right time.

The freshman pre-season All-America scored 26 points Tuesday night during the No. 23 Tar Heels’ 106-74 blowout at Boston College – bettering the career-high he set last weekend, and recording back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career. It was an important step in consistency for the starting wing, who had been struggling to put together two strong halves of offensive basketball (much less for two straight games) all season.

As a result, the Tar Heels (16-5, 6-1 ACC)  – who took all last season just to win five ACC games  – have already improved that league mark; are tied with No. 5 Duke atop the conference standings; and have won nine of their last 10.

DURHAM – Following Duke’s only loss of the season on Jan. 12 at Florida State, the Blue Devils resolved that they weren’t going to force seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler to carry such a heavy load.

Fifteen nights later, the determination of players other than Smith and Singler to become more involved was obvious as the No. 3-ranked Blue Devils dismantled Boston College 84-68 on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Sophomore forward Ryan Kelly stretched his streak of consecutive field goal attempts made over four games to 18 – two short of Alaa Abdelnaby’s school record – before finally missing on his first shot of the second half.

RALEIGH – Here’s our rapid reaction after Millbrook defeated Enloe 48-40 Friday night in a Cap Eight 4-A conference game:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON

This game was close the entire way, but Millbrook center Briana Day was dominant in the second half as she scored 16 of her game-high 24 points to lead the Wildcats to victory. Millbrook has been in close game situations like this before after winning the GlaxoSmithKline Invitation in late December. That really helped the Wildcats pull away from the Eagles late with a 7-0 run. 

TURNING POINT

Millbrook had a concerted effort to get Day the ball in the third quarter. Day only missed one shot in the quarter and scored eight points to allow the Wildcats to have a lead to start the third quarter. This was key because guard Katelyn Mitchell handled the ball so well against Enloe’s full-court press that Day had plenty of opportunities to score.

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College changed coaches and styles since the last time N.C. State saw the Eagles last March. With a new reliance on the 3-point shot, the Eagles are different team and 3-0 in the ACC after a 75-66 home win over the Wolfpack on Tuesday night.

Corey Raji and Biko Paris hit consecutive 3-pointers to break a 60-60 tie with 4 minutes left in the game. The Eagles hit nine 3s for their third straight ACC win under first-year coach Steve Donahue.

State (11-5, 1-1 ACC) powered the ball inside to forward Tracy Smith for 18 points and got a second-half surge from freshman guard Ryan Harrow but it wasn't enough to match BC's outside shooting or high-scoring guard Reggie Jackson.

Jackson led all scorers with 29 points and added six assists and five rebounds in a sterling performance.

ELIZABETH CITY - Friday night in the 2-AA Eastern Region championship game, Cedar Ridge ran into the same problems the previous 12 Northeastern opponents faced and the Red Wolves saw their season end by a 21-7 score.

The 13-2 Eagles will go on to play Salisbury next Saturday in the state championship game at Wake Forest University.

ELIZABETH CITY – Despite a rich history that includes eight campaigns with a double-digit victory total, the Northeastern Eagles have never been able to reach the fourth round of the postseason.

Until this year.

The Eagles, playing at home, used a balanced offensive attack to defeat Bunn by a 35-7 margin Friday to advance into the fourth round -- and the semifinals -- of the Class 2-AA State Playoffs.