N.C. State's T.J. Warren drives to the basket as Norfolk State's Rashid Gaston (35) defends  the second half. ETHAN HYMAN

RALEIGH—Before a week-long break from basketball games for final exams, Richard Howell had found his rhythm, notching double-doubles in three of the Wolfpack’s past four games. In No. 25 N.C. State’s 84-62 win over Norfolk State Saturday, he took that effectiveness to another level.

Howell pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds and five blocks, and he also scored 12 points to extend his double-double streak to three games in a row and four of the last five. At this point, his teammates expect that level of production.

“That’s what he does,” point guard Lorenzo Brown said. “I’m not surprised. He always does that.”

During Sanderson’s playoff run, the team hasn’t run away from using superstition as part of its success. In fact, the Spartans have been adamant about keeping their new superstition going.

Assistant coach Raymond Hammond said it all started with the bus the team has used during the postseason.

“All coaches have superstitions,” Hammond said. “Every time we’ve got on the bus we’ve been successful.”

The Spartans described their bus as the ugliest one the school has. That’s because it is more than 20 years old, making it the oldest one at Sanderson. And yes, it takes a few times for the engine to get started.

“It’s really old,” said Dashawna Smith, a senior guard who laughed at the situation.

The Spartans (20-8) stared using the bus two weeks ago for the Cap Eight conference tournament because it was large enough to transport both the varsity team and JV players who wanted to attend the postseason games.

Sanderson is 4-1 since using the bus. The only loss was to Millbrook, the team the Spartans will play tonight at the Crown Arena in Fayetteville.

RALEIGH – Both Sanderson and Wakefield have used defense to win games this season. So it came as no surprise that their first meeting of the season went down to the final minutes as visiting Wakefield escaped with a 47-44 victory.

Leading 44-37 with less than two minutes remaining, Wakefield seemed to have the game wrapped up.

The lead quickly closed as Sanderson’s Parker Fennema scored five quick points to cut Wakefield’s lead to just one.

Wakefield (5-0, 1-0 Cap Eight 4-A) though hit two of four free-throws in the final minute to create the three-point margin. Sanderson inbounded the ball with six seconds remaining, but the Spartans were unable to get off the 3-pointer they needed as Wakefield’s defense smothered Gloire Biongo.

RALEIGH There was no denying Anna Dulaney’s impact on Sanderson’s 2-0 win over Millbrook on Wednesday night. It was written all over her walk.

After struggling to score goals the last two weeks, Sanderson (4-3-1, 4-3-0 Cap Eight 4-A) needed more out of its offense against Millbrook (4-4-0, 3-3-0). It needed to more opportunities. It needed someone to scrap. That’s what Dulaney did.

She put herself in the middle of the action against Millbrook, forcing the defense to match her intensity. Sometimes it resulted in offense for herself – taking a Savannah Parrish pass and putting it in the upper-left corner in the 54th minute – and other times it set up her teammates as she drew a foul in the penalty box Olivia Costello’s penalty kick in the 70th minute.

Officially, Holly Potts finished Sanderson’s 4-1 win over Enloe on Monday night with no goals and no assists. Spartans coach Todd Worley knows that stats don’t mean everything.

With Sanderson leading 2-1 early in the second half, Potts took a free kick from 25 yards and sent a bullet into the high-right corner. But Enloe goalkeeper Hunter Kenny dove for the shot, knocking it down to Sanderson midfielder Ryan Davis who tapped in the rebound for the goal.

Davis was credited for the score – her first of two goals on the night – but Worley knows the Spartans don’t get on the scoreboard without Potts’ perfectly placed ball.

“We’ve been struggling on set pieces. So I just told her to rip it and she did,” Worley said. “It was a nice little angle and we had someone to follow it up with Ryan.”

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.

DURHAM -- A brilliant performance by freshman point guard Kyrie Irving gave way to stellar 3-point shooting for Duke in the second half as No. 1 Duke remained undefeated with a huge nonconference win.

Four 3-pointers in a span of 3 minutes, 40 seconds helped the top-ranked Blue Devils open up a 10-point, second-half lead Wednesday night in an 84-79 defeat of No. 6 Michigan State at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the premier meeting of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

RALEIGH - Southeast Raleigh picked the most opportune time to play its most complete game of the season.

The Bulldogs dominated Southern Durham on both sides of the ball and dismantled the Spartans 38-7 Friday night in the second round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs. Southeast (10-3) will advance to play New Bern in the next round.

SMITHFIELD -- The best thing about career win No. 200 for Clayton head coach Gary Fowler was that it was win No. 6 this season, which made the Comets winners for the season.

Clayton topped rival Smithfield-Selma 38-13 Friday night, earning the Comets (6-5 overall, 4-3 Greater Neuse River 4-A) a playoff spot as the league's No. 3 finisher.

The victory also gives the Comets their first winning season at the 4-A level and their first winning regular-season since 2005. Fowler, a Smithfield-Selma graduate oddly enough, has coached the Comets since 1985, through the 2-A, 3-A and 4-A ranks.

RALEIGH -- The Broughton Capitals gained a huge advantage with their special teams play as they cruised to a 51-20 win over 4-A CAP 7 foe Sanderson (1-10, 1-5).

From their first possession to their last, the Capitals scored at will as they finished the season at .500 in conference play and 6-5 overall.