First-quarter spark pushes Northside over Glenn Hills in Day 1 nightcap of Holiday Hoops Classic

WARNER ROBINS — A slow early effort turned around quickly as the Northside Eagles (7-2) got the spark they needed to take down the Glenn Hills Spartans (2-7) to end Day 1 of the Forrest B. Johnson & Associates Holiday Hoops Classic with a 76-39 victory.

The spark in question was freshman Kingston Allen, who came in late in the first quarter and woke the Eagles up.

Allen’s greatest asset is his scoring, and he showcased that with a personal 5-0 run shortly after subbing in. He also drew a charge that ignited the bench and propelled Northside to a 9-0 run that gave them a 17-13 lead after one.

After that the defensive effort picked up. Several more players drew charges, the press generated turnovers and got them out in transition and headed to the basket.

It was still a four-point game halfway through the second, but from there Buck Harris’ Eagles outscored Glenn Hills 17-2 to create a 40-21 halftime advantage.

“Kingston Allen took the charge. That was huge because he hasn’t thus far,” Harris said. “When you get a freshman to start buying in and doing that stuff like taking a charge and getting on the floor for loose balls, that means you’re reaching them, and your program is growing.”

“The points was great, but him taking that charge, that put us over the hump right there. That’s when you grow as a team.”

Northside’s fire didn’t burn quite as intensely in the second half but they maintained and then grew their margin.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Allen and fellow freshman Caden Lowe put the Eagles up 27 and with less than a minute to go in the third quarter they officially made it 30 before flirting with a 40-point margin in the final period.

Harris has said that he’s not afraid to play freshmen despite their streakiness, and those two have been invaluable for the Eagles through nine games.

“They’ve been huge. It wasn’t just a game when we got up by 30, they played well against Peach [County]. Caden Lowe played well against Rutland,” Harris said. “So they’re going to be freshmen. They’re gonna be up and down, but they both bring different things to the table, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re playing varsity and getting minutes.”

“As long as they listen to doing what’s right and buying into what we’re doing and buying into what we’re doing…The guys love them, they got a bright future here at Northside.”

UP NEXT

Glenn Hills will play the first boys game on Day 2 of the Holiday Hoop Fest against Forest Park at 2:30 p.m., and Northside will finish the event off with a matchup against Luella at 5:30 p.m.