CHAPEL HILL — Ty Alston can take solace in knowing he has two home games remaining as a member of the East Chapel Hill boys’ basketball team.

He’s already had a memorable senior season. East Chapel Hill has been tied for first place in the PAC-6 conference for most of the season, and the Wildcats are a shoe-in for their first 4-A state playoff berth.

But if he had scored the final basket Friday night against Jordan, it wouldn’t have just been heroic. It would have been storybook. But there’s no storybook ending for the Wildcats. Not yet anyway.

Alston’s running scoop shot at the buzzer fell short Friday night, and the Jordan Falcons held off East Chapel Hill, 47-46, at Wildcats Gymnasium.

East Chapel Hill (13-7, 8-4 PAC) dropped into a tie for second in the Piedmont Athletic Conference with Hillside (10-9, 8-4), two games in back of Southern Durham (14-8, 10-2), winner of five straight. Jordan (9-12, 6-6) still trails Northern Durham (6-6 PAC) for a shot at a playoff spot.

The Falcons, who swept the season series from the Wildcats, scored the game-winning points off two free throws from Kevin Holmes with :07 remaining after East’s Robert Dowdy drew a foul on a closely called hand check.

Jevaris Quinn paced East with 11 points. Jordan’s Justin Watts led all scorers with 16 points. Former Wildcat Colton Foushee added eight points for the Falcons.

It concluded a lousy week for the Wildcats, who were knocked out of first place in the PAC-6 conference following a Tuesday loss to Hillside.

“We wanted to take the ball right to the rack,” said East coach Ray Hartsfield following the game. “Ty did exactly that. He double-clutched it at the end, and I wish he would have gone straight up. But we got a shot, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Trailing 34-24 with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter, East stormed back with a 17-6 run, keyed by improved dribble penetration by point guard Greg Alston. Jordan went scoreless during a span of 3:12 in the fourth quarter, and the Wildcats took a 41-40 lead after draining seven consecutive free throws.

With the score tied at 42, Ty Alston hit a driving one-hander to give East the lead, only to have Jordan’s Justin Watts drain a three-pointer to put the Falcons ahead 45-44. After a Wildcat miss, Jordan was called for palming the ball, setting up a basket by East’s Javaris Quinn off a pretty feed from Greg Alston to momentarily give East a 46-45 advantage.

While Hartsfield was upset over the foul that put Holmes on the line for the game-winning free throws, he was even more unhappy over the way his team started the game. He thought Tuesday’s 60-49 loss at Hillside would light a fire under his team, which was playing for first place. He was wrong.

“We came out flat for the second game in a row,” said Hartsfield. “We just didn’t play with any heart. It was just fortunate that we were down only five at the half.”

Jordan led by as many as nine points in the first half while Hartsfield struggled to find the right combination to subdue the Falcons’ offense. Starters Travis Williams and Jeremy Harn barely got off the bench.

Ty Alston, who scored 30 in the first game against Jordan, registered just two in the first half.

Southern Durham comes to East on Tuesday in hopes of wrapping up the regular season championship. The Wildcats’ loss to Jordan practically ends any hope of a share for the regular season title, but there’s still plenty to hope for in the state playoffs.

Hillside 53, Chapel Hill 36

Hillside showed why it’s a threat in the PAC-6 by handling Chapel Hill on the road. CHHS got 11 points from Josh Morrison, but the methodical Hornets increased their lead after each quarter, sank 18 free throws and benefited from a balanced scoring attack, led by Ronnie Williams’ 14 points.

Chapel Hill dropped to 6-15, 3-11 in conference play, as its long-term struggles continued.

Cardinal Gibbons 62, Carrboro 56

The debutante Jaguars nearly pulled off a comeback win in a Mid-State Conference shootout on Friday. After a poor end to the first half that saw Carrboro down 13, the hosts made their move with a third-quarter resurgence but wound up falling short.

David Brooks (11 points) has been keeping the young Jaguars in games with his explosive scoring, but he got plenty of help against the Crusaders with Brad Dimac (13 points) and Brooks Morgan (12 points) both reaching double figures.

Earlier in the week, Carrboro had to come from behind again when it hosted Cedar Ridge. Down 18 heading into the fourth quarter, the Jaguars enjoyed a scoring spurt late in the game but lost 65-57. Brooks was closer to his average in that game, dropping 21 points, and Dimac added 16. But the potent combination of the Red Wolves’ Josh Pappas (16 points), Kendale Edwards (15) and Jake Literas (14) was enough to get Cedar Ridge the victory.

Carrboro is 4-17 on the year, and 4-13 in Mid-State play.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

East 57, Jordan 54 (OT)

The East girls pulled out an overtime victory on the road Friday with a gutsy victory in Durham.

The game was tight the whole way and the Wildcats just nudged their noses in front at the finish, with Kisha Evans’ 16 points leading the way. East got solid offensive production from its two Hannahs, as Hannah Elledge scored 13 and Hannah Diggs got 10. Aileen Savino also scored nine points for the Wildcats.

Jordan was led by Danielle Deberry’s 16 points, while Kristen Lyon and Tianna Spears had 14 apiece. The victory inched East Chapel Hill closer to the Falcons in the conference standings, with Jordan now holding a one-game advantage at 7-5 (13-5 overall). East is 6-6 in league play after the win, and 11-9 overall.

Tuesday, the team dropped a 70-36 decision at home to Hillside. The Hornets led by just eight at the half, but a 25-6 third–quarter run put them in the driver’s seat. Elledge led the Wildcats’ effort with 12 points.

Hillside 76, Chapel Hill 32

Asia Williams had 25 points and Matisha Magnum added 19 as Hillside completed a two-game sweep of the Chapel Hill schools with its Friday victory.

Megan McCluskey got 18 points for CHHS, her second strong showing of the week. Tuesday, she scored 24 but the Tigers fell 57-46 at Southern Durham. Hillary Margolis scored 10 points for Chapel Hill in that loss, which saw CHHS close at the half but out-muscled down the stretch.

The Hornets are a perfect 20-0 on the year (12-0 in the PAC-6). Southern is not as strong, though, just 2-9 in the conference after beating Chapel Hill.

The Tigers are now 7-14, 4-8, with a final regular-season clash with Jordan set for Valentine’s Day.

Cedar Ridge 72, Carrboro 38

Four Red Wolves reached double figures as Cedar Ridge cruised past Carrboro Tuesday in a Mid-State matchup. Laney Mishue provided half of the Jaguars’ scoring output, getting 19 points, but the game was never in doubt as Cedar Ridge raced out to a 12-point first-quarter advantage.

In the end, the Red Wolves delighted their fans by placing a whopping 12 different players in the scoring column. Hannah Roberts had the top total with 13 points, but Scarlette Harrison (12), Sterling Cates (12) and Sarah Beal (11) were equally impressive as Cedar Ridge put on a display of team basketball.

Friday, the Red Wolves earned an exciting one-point win at Durham School of the Arts, edging the Bulldogs 40-39. Beal scored nine points to lead Cedar Ridge, and Roberts had eight with five rebounds.

Carrboro is now 4-11, 2-9 in the conference.

Orange 43, Northwood 40

Bianca Richberg scored 15 points to help the Panthers win a Mid-State contest between area teams on Wednesday. The Chargers got 15 points from Casey Harris and 13 from Rashmi Vanhook, but their comeback hopes fell short as Orange held out for the home win.

Richberg went on to score 19 points on Friday and Antovia Boone added 16 as the Panthers’ happy run continued with a 74-38 win over Raleigh Charter. Diamond Villines also chipped in with 10 in the home win, which featured a blistering 28-point third-quarter from a suddenly offense-minded Orange team. The original Hillsborough high school allowed just eight in the period, then conceded only six points in the final quarter to win easily and improve to 14-7 (12-4 in Mid-State play) on the season.