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The North Stanly’s men’s basketball team entered Tuesday’s first-round state playoff matchup with the chance to make school history and advance in the tournament.

Senior Jalen Walker, who plans to play ball next year at Mary Baldwin, added his name to the school’s 1,000-point club as the No. 16 Comets hosted No. 17 Walkertown.

The game went to overtime where the Comets earned a 54-50 win, the first playoff win for a North men’s team since March 2, 2019.

Jack Williamson led North (22-6) with a double-double of 28 points and 16 rebounds, while Walker had 22 points and six assists.

Walker became the 13th North Stanly men’s basketball player to score 1,000 or more career points, joining his teammate Williamson, who reached the same plateau earlier in the season.

Walkertown (16-10) was led by Jaden McDaniels with 12 points and Cameron Cartlidge with 10.

North trailed 13-7 after one quarter and was down by as much as nine in the second, down at halftime 23-14.

The Comets trailed by 13 with 3:34 left in the third, 29-16, but started cutting into the lead. North went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes and trailed at the end of the third, 31-25.

Walkertown pushed the lead back to 13 with 4:30 left in the fourth but the Comets forced turnovers and continued to cut into the lead with a full-court press.

North rallied to take a 48-47 lead on a Walker three-point play with 1:36 on the clock.

Trailing 52-50 with under 20 seconds left in regulation, Jack Williamson got an offensive rebound and stick-back to tie the game with 10.2 on the clock.

In the final five seconds of the fourth, the Comets’ defense got a stop and forced overtime.

With two minutes left in the overtime period, Walker hit a three from the left corner to give North the lead for good.

The Wolfpack had a chance in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, missing two shots in the lane before North corralled the rebound. Walker hit two free throws to seal the win.

Head coach George Walker credited senior forward Gavin Helms for his defensive play down low on the forwards of the Wolfpack.

North Stanly goes on the road Friday to take on the undefeated No. 1 seed in the 2A Western Region, Reidsville (26-0). The Rams advanced to the second round with a 73-19 win over No. 32 Brevard.